- An LA jury on Thursday heard from multiple eyewitnesses to rapper
Nipsey Hussle 's 2019 death. - Three witnesses appeared to become emotional as they recounted the fatal
shooting .
It was an emotional day in court on Thursday as several eyewitnesses to rapper Nipsey Hussle's 2019 death fought back tears while recounting the fatal shooting.
The murder trial began this week with the prosecution arguing that defendant Eric R. Holder premediated the Grammy-award-winning rapper's death following a short conversation between the two men regarding accusations of "snitching."
Holder, 32, faces one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting that left Hussle dead and two other men injured. If convicted, Holder could face life in prison.
Deputy District Attorney John McKinney used his opening statement on Wednesday to describe the sequence of events that led to Hussle's March 2019 death outside his clothing store in South
Minutes later, Holder returned to the same parking lot with two guns and fired multiple shots at Hussle, prosecutors alleged. The rapper was hit 11 times and two other men were also struck, according to law enforcement. Police arrested Holder two days later following a manhunt and a grand jury indicted Holder two months after his capture.
Tearful testimony
Jurors on Thursday continued to hear testimony from Herman "Cowboy" Douglas, a friend and employee of Hussle's who was present at the shooting. Donning a bedazzled jacket, a Nipsey Hussle T-shirt, and a cowboy hat, Douglas answered questions from both McKinney and defense attorney Aaron Jansen about the moments leading up to the fatal shooting.
Douglas said he didn't think anything was out of the ordinary when Holder pulled up in the passenger seat of a car just minutes after his conversation with Hussle. But Douglas also told the court that he remembered Hussle muttering to himself: "I wonder how this is going to unfold" as he saw Holder approach — testimony which Jansen scrutinized after pointing out that Douglas had failed to mention the detail in his grand jury testimony and under direct examination by the prosecution the day before.
Prosecutors said Hussle, who was born Ermias Asghedom, and Holder grew up in the same neighborhood and knew each other from both being members of the same gang, the Rollin' 60s. But Douglas testified that Hussle was no longer involved in gang activity at the time of his death and the rapper, who was a South LA native, was using his burgeoning notoriety to help revitalize his hometown community.
Stoic and quick-witted through most of his testimony, Douglas appeared to get emotional when McKinney asked if he felt any guilt around Hussle's death.
"I just feel regret that I left his side," Douglas said through tears. "I should've never left his side. I did not see this coming, no way, no how."
The prosecution on Thursday morning called two additional witnesses who were in the strip mall at the time of the shooting: Christian Johnson, an electrician who was at a burger joint near Hussle's clothing store at the time of the shooting, and Danae Wright, a mother who was in the parking lot after having brought her kids to meet Hussle.
Johnson testified that he heard several gunshots while waiting for his food at a nearby Master Burger. Security footage played in court showed him ducking for cover as people fled the scene.
"It still shakes me up. I dream about it every night," Johnson said as he began to cry. "I walked outside and saw Nipsey laying there."
As he recounted the scene, Johnson broke down into full sobs and the judge issued a break to allow him to compose himself.
Prosecutors played additional surveillance footage in court on Thursday which showed Wright parking her car in the lot moments before the shooting. Wright told the jury that she was sitting in her car with her children in the backseat, watching Hussle take a picture with some of her friends.
Moments later, video showed the shooting unfold. Several bystanders began running throughout the parking lot and Wright jumped out of her car, ran away, then ran back to the vehicle amid the chaos.
Sounding choked up, she testified that she was trying to wake her kids up in the backseat after she heard the shooting.
Shooting victim testifies reluctantly
The afternoon saw an entirely different kind of witness in Kerry Lathan, one of the other men who was injured in the shooting.
Acknowledging that he didn't want to be testifying in the case, Lathan seemed to dodge questions from both attorneys and frequently said he could not recall parts of his previous grand jury testimony, citing an unrelated stroke that occurred after the shooting that made it difficult to organize his thoughts.
"I don't know nothing, I don't see nothing," Lathan said at one point in response to persistent questioning from McKinney.
Lathan told the jury that his nephew had driven him to Hussle's store on the day of the shooting so that Lathan could thank the rapper for some clothes he had given him. The two men were talking outside of the store when the shooting occurred, Lathan testified.
As gunfire rang out, Lathan said he tried to run away but only made it about two steps before he fell to the ground and was unable to move, having been shot in the mid-back. Lathan said he didn't see the shooter, whom he said came from behind him, but he did remember witnessing gunfire amid the chaos. He told the jury that the bullet from that day is still inside of him.
Lathan's slow-going testimony prompted several long sidebars between the judge and both lawyers. During one such break, Lathan and at least one juror appeared to doze off.
Jurors will be back in the courtroom on Monday. The trial is expected to last about two more weeks.