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Suspect In Nipsey Hussle Killing Indicted

Eric Ronald Holder Jr. (L), the man accused of killing rapper Nipsey Hussle, appears in court in April with his then-attorney, Christopher Darden (R).
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Eric Ronald Holder Jr. (L), the man accused of killing rapper Nipsey Hussle, appears in court in April with his then-attorney, Christopher Darden (R).

On Monday, a grand jury in Los Angeles indicted 29-year-old Eric R. Holder Jr., who is accused of fatally shooting rapper, entrepreneur and community philanthropist Nipsey Hussle outside of the musician's clothing store in Los Angeles in March. Two other men were wounded during the incident.

The six-count indictment includes charges of murder, attempted murder, assault with a firearm and possession of firearm by a felon. LAPD chief Michel Moore said at an April press conference that, according to video evidence and witness statements, it appeared that Holder and Nipsey Hussle (born Ermias Asghedom) had an argument, and that Holder returned to the rapper's store in South Los Angeles with a gun.

Holder pleaded not guilty to the charges, and bail has been set at $6.53 million. Because of the grand jury indictment, Holder will skip a preliminary hearing, and the case is headed to trial.

If Holder is convicted, he faces life in prison. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for June 18. Earlier this month, lawyer Christopher Darden — an attorney who became internationally famous as part of the prosecution team who tried O.J. Simpson for murder in the 1990s — announced that he is no longer representing Holder. Darden said that there had been threats against him and his family.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Anastasia Tsioulcas is a reporter on NPR's Arts desk. She is intensely interested in the arts at the intersection of culture, politics, economics and identity, and primarily reports on music. Recently, she has extensively covered gender issues and #MeToo in the music industry, including backstage tumult and alleged secret deals in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against megastar singer Plácido Domingo; gender inequity issues at the Grammy Awards and the myriad accusations of sexual misconduct against singer R. Kelly.