Nipsey Hussle discussed "snitching" with his alleged killer shortly before he was shot.
The 33-year-old rapper was killed outside his Los Angeles clothing store on March 31, and grand jury transcripts unsealed on Thursday (27.06.19) revealed a witness, Nipsey’s friend, Herman Douglas, knew of a conversation between his pal and suspect Eric Holder.
Herman testified that he, Holder, and the ‘Double Up’ hitmaker had all been affiliated with the Rollin’ 60s gang at some point and Nipsey had told the suspect of rumours Holder had been snitching about the gang and advised him to take care of it.
He remembered Nipsey saying minutes before he was shot: "You need to address it."
He added: "You know, basically telling the guy you need to be careful, you know, because people got some paperwork on you."
Another witness, a woman who drove Holder from the scene, also testified she heard the two men talk about "snitching".
Deputy District Attorney John McKinney told the grand jury the four-minute chat led to the shooting.
He said: "Obviously, that conversation about snitching was enough that it moved Eric Holder to a point of wanting to return to the parking lot and kill Nipsey Hussle."
Homicide investigators and a medical examiner claimed the suspect returned to the scene after the conversation and used two guns to fire at least 10 shots into the rapper.
Mr. McKinney said: "As he approached, he was prepared to fire as many shots as necessary and shoot as many people as necessary to ensure that he killed Nipsey Hussle."
Kerry Lathan, who was wounded in the shooting, testified that he heard the guman say "you’re through" right before he fired at Nipsey.
The grand jury listened to three days of testimony in May before it returned an indictment charging Holder on May 9 with the murder, attempted murder, and other offences.
Holder – who was arrested two days after the shooting – has pleaded not guilty to killing the rapper.