Eric Holder, man suspected in Nipsey Hussle murder, held on $7M bail

LOS ANGELES (FOX 11) - A man suspected in the murder of rapper Nipsey Hussle was being held Wednesday in the custody of the Los Angeles Police Department in lieu of $7 million bail.

Eric Holder, 29, was arrested around 1:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 9900 block of Artesia Boulevard in Bellflower by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies after a witness called authorities to report seeing a person believed to be Holder.

Deputies responded and detained the man. Homicide detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department responded to Lakewood Sheriff's Station and confirmed he was Holder.

Holder was then transferred to LAPD custody.

"Eric Holder, the suspected killer of Nipsey Hussle, has been arrested and is in police custody. Thank you to both our community for the heightened awareness/vigilance, and our partners at @LASDHQ," the Los Angeles Police Department posted on Twitter.

Holder is accused in the shooting death Sunday afternoon of the 33-year-old rapper outside The Marathon clothing store in South Los Angeles, police said.

During a press conference Tuesday, Los Angeles police Chief Michel Moore said the fatal shooting involved a personal dispute between Hussle and Holder and was not gang violence.

Investigators said the suspect repeatedly came up to Hussle and spoke with him, then returned with a gun and opened fire before fleeing in a car driven by an unidentified woman.

"We believe this to be a dispute between Mr. Hussle and Mr. Holder,'' Moore said. "I'm not going to go into the conversations, but it appears to be a personal matter between the two of them.''

Hussle was one of three men shot outside The Marathon clothing store. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, while the other two men were in stable condition.

A court appearance for Holder has not yet been scheduled.

Law enforcement sources told TMZ that Holder was being held in solitary confinement. Authorities reportedly refused to let him mingle with the general population because they believe he is a target.

The sources told TMZ he will remain in solitary confinement once he's transferred to L.A. County Jail awaiting trial.

According to The Blast, Holder has a criminal record that includes a 2009 arrest and charge of domestic battery against the mother of his child. He pleaded down the battery charge by agreeing to complete an anger management treatment program and stay 100 yards away from the woman.

He was also arrested in 2012 and charged with carrying a loaded gun. He made a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to six months in Los Angeles County jail.

According to court records obtained by The Blast, Holder was ordered not to "own, use or possess any dangerous or deadly weapons, including firearms, knives or other concealable weapons."

Hussle, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, was an Eritrean-American father of two who was engaged to actress Lauren London.

London broke her silence following the deadly shooting, posting a solo picture of Hussle along with other images that included her, the rapper and their family on her Instagram account Tuesday.

She captioned her photos writing: "I'm lost without you."

Born on Aug. 15, 1985, Hussle said his first passion was music but getting resources was tough after leaving his mother's house at 14 to live with his grandmother. He said he got involved in street life as he tried to support himself, and he joined the gang Rollin 60's Neighborhood Crips as a teenager.

The Los Angeles police chief said he was devastated by the killing of Hussle, who was shot a day before they were to have a meeting about the relationship between police and the inner city.