The man who murdered prolific rapper Nipsey Hussle is asking a judge to reduce his conviction from first-degree murder to voluntary manslaughter.
Eric Holder appeared in court on Thursday, where he and his lawyer, Aaron Jansen, requested to have his sentencing date pushed back so that a conviction reduction could be considered. This week’s court appearance was supposed to be when Holder learned his fate. Instead, his sentencing is expected to take place on December 19th. Though the motion will likely be denied, if a judge does agree to lesser charges, Holder could receive decades off of his sentence. He is currently facing 50 years to life in prison for his murder and other firearm charges.
Jansen argued that the juror’s verdict was “inconsistent,” finding Holder guilty of first-degree murder in Nipsey’s death but accepted a less lethal explanation for the shootings of Kerry Lathan and Shermi Villanueva, who were also shot during the March 2019 confrontation. Jansen says the jury believed Holder’s “heat of passion” defense for wounding Lathan and Villanueva, convicting him only of attempted voluntary manslaughter.
“It was all one event. If he was provoked and didn’t have time to cool off for the other two guys, how did he have time to cool off with Nipsey Hussle?” Jansen questioned, following the hearing.
Holder gunned down Nipsey in front of his South Los Angeles Marathon Clothing Store because the entrepreneur accused him of being a snitch. According to the autopsy report, the 33-year-old was shot by Holder a total of 11 times, and two handguns were believed to be used.
