NBCBLK Nipsey Hussle murdered after snitch remark, grand jury transcripts say

Rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was shot in front of his clothing store earlier this year, was murdered after an exchange about someone being a snitch, according to grand jury transcripts unsealed by a Los Angeles judge Thursday.

Prosecutors told the grand jury that witnesses heard Hussle accuse his alleged killer, Eric Ronald Holder Jr., of snitching during a conversation overheard between the two men.

“Nipsey was like, ‘Man, you know, they got some paperwork on you, you know. I haven’t read it, you know. Like you my bro, you know. Like maybe you need to take care of that, you know,’” one witness told the grand jury in early May.

The unidentified witness described Hussle's words as a warning but did not know the reasons behind it. Another witness said Holder uttered the words to Hussle, “you’re through,” during the shooting, and said he heard Hussle try to say a name after he’d been fatally wounded.

Superior Court Judge Robert Perry rejected arguments that Holder, 29, would be unable to receive a fair trial if transcripts from the grand jury proceedings to indict Holder were released. Both prosecutors and Holder's defense fought against unsealing the transcripts.

"Everything in the transcript is of an incriminating nature," L.A. County Deputy District Attorney John McKinney said Thursday outside court.

Hussle was shot multiple times in the parking lot of Marathon Clothing in South Los Angeles at about 3:25 p.m. March 31 and pronounced dead at a hospital.

Holder pleaded not guilty in April to murder and two counts of attempted murder, along with a count of possession of a firearm by a felon. A grand jury indictment unsealed in May added charges of assault and assault with a firearm against him.

Holder and Hussle were at one time close friends, according to NBC Los Angeles. Police said Holder and Hussle had several conversations outside the store on the day of the murder before Holder returned and began shooting.