Witness in Nipsey Hussle Murder Testifies She Was Getaway Driver

The trial for Eric Holder, the man accused of killing Nipsey Hussle, is underway, and the woman who drove Holder to and from the crime scene has given her testimony. She claims she initially had no idea that Holder had shot someone.

On Monday (June 20), Holder’s trial in the murder of Nipsey Hussle resumed after beginning last week. The day included testimony from Bryannita Nicholson, 35, a friend of Holder who was driving him around the day Holder allegedly shot and killed the beloved Los Angeles rapper on March 31, 2019. Nicholson claimed she and Holder pulled into the South L.A. shopping center where Nipsey Hussle’s The Marathon clothing store is located to get food at the nearby Master Burger when they saw the rapper standing in the parking lot.

“I said, ‘Ooh, there goes Nipsey. He fine,” Nicholson testified, according to local Los Angeles news outlet Fox26. “I want to take a picture with him.'”

She went on to say Holder got out of the car and approached Nipsey Hussle while she was still looking for a parking spot. When she joined Holder and Nipsey, the two men were already engaged in conversation, Nicholson testified.

“I just thought he was trying to beat me to go see him before I saw him,” Nicholson said. “Eric was asking Nipsey, ‘Did you tell somebody I snitched?'”

According to Nicholson’s account, she returned to the car to post her photo to social media while Holder went into the burger joint to get food. After emerging with his meal, Holder reportedly told Nicholson to pull her car around the back of the shopping center, where he allegedly pulled out a handgun.

“I was like, ‘What are you doing? You put that away. You ain’t going to shoot nothing outside my car,'” Nicholson testified. “He did put it away.”

After instructing Nicholson to pull into an alley so he could eat, Holder reportedly exited the vehicle before finishing his food and told Nicholson he would be back. After hearing gunshots, Nicholson testified she saw Holder powerwalking toward her car.

“I was like, ‘What happened?'” Nicholson testified. “He said, ‘You talk too much. I ought to slap you.’ And he was just like, ‘Drive! Drive!'” she said.

Nicholson said after later seeing news of Nipsey Hussle’s death, it occurred to her that Holder may have committed the crime. Even with that knowledge, she drove Holder from Long Beach, Calif. to L.A. later that night upon his request.

Eric Holder has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with Nipsey Hussle’s killing and the shooting of two other bystanders. Nicholson is reportedly getting immunity in exchange for her testimony.

Nicholson, whose name was previously being withheld, was the witness who told the police in 2019 that Holder’s alleged snitching is what led to Nipsey’s shooting. She went to the Los Angeles Police Department the day following the killing after seeing her license plate on television, but was initially turned away. She was later offered witness protection after credible threats were made on her life.

Last week, Deputy District Attorney John McKinney detailed Nipsey’s killing. Deputy D.A. McKinney said the rapper was shot around 10 times “from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head.” The jury was also shown video of Holder running from the scene holding two handguns.

Holder’s defense attorney, Arron Jansen, is characterizing the incident as a crime committed in the heat of passion and not a premeditated act, as first-degree murder would imply. He is arguing his client should be charged with voluntary manslaughter.