LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Community activist Najee Ali called today for the arrest of the woman who drove Eric Holder away from where he allegedly shot to death rapper Nipsey Hussle over the weekend.
Holder is behind bars in lieu of $7 million bail. His getaway driver has not been arrested.
The woman who drove the getaway car spoke with LAPD detectives Tuesday and was allowed to go free, law enforcement sources told the celebrity news website TMZ.com, although she could be arrested and charged in the future.
A source suggested to TMZ that the woman was allowed to go in exchange for information. The woman told TMZ she had not been aware of Holder's alleged role in the slaying.
“Holder's female accomplice waited two days to turn herself in to police,” said communiity activist Najee Ali in a statement. “That was two days too many. She only turned herself in after her picture was posted all over social media along with Holder's.”
He said if the woman was not aware of Holder's plans, why didn't she contact police as soon as she could safely do so. “Why did she wait so long?
“We believe she's lying through her teeth and neds to be held accountable and brought to justice with Holder for the cold-blooded murder of Nipsey Hussle.”
Ali, the head of Project Islamic Hope, and Lawanda Hawkins of Justice for Murdered Children plan to hold a news conference in a parking lot on West Slauson Avenue at 10 this morning to publicly call for the woman's arrest.
Holder, meanwhile, remained in custody, and no court appearance for him has been announced. He was arrested around 1 p.m. Tuesday in the 9000 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.
Sheriff's deputies detained him outside a mental health facility, and Los Angeles police officers went to the sheriff's Lakewood station and confirmed the man was indeed Holder.
A witness told the website The Blast that Holder had called a mental health facility and claimed he needed “help.”
“Thank you to both our community for the heightened awareness/vigilance, and our partners at (the sheriff's department),” the LAPD stated in a Twitter post.
Holder is suspected of gunning down Hussle, a 33-year-old rapper, around 3:20 p.m. Sunday in front of The Marathon Clothing store the singer owned in the 3400 block of West Slauson Avenue in the Hyde Park area.
Los Angeles police Chief Michel Moore said Holder got into some type of personal dispute with the rapper outside the store, then left and returned with a handgun.
Hussle was shot in the head and body and died at a hospital, according to police and the coroner's office. Two other men were also injured in the shooting, although one declined to be taken to a hospital.
Moore declined to discuss the nature of the disagreement between Holder and Hussle but stressed the shooting appeared to be a result of that dispute, not any type of gang rivalry or feud.
“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.”
Law enforcement sources told TMZ.com that the LAPD was keeping Holder in solitary confinement, with authorities refusing to let him mingle with the general inmate population for fear that he'll be attacked. The sources said he'll remain in solitary once he's transferred to L.A. County Jail.
Hussle's longtime girlfriend, actress Lauren London, broke her silence about the rapper's death Tuesday night, posting a message on Instagram along with a series of photos.
“I am completely lost,” she wrote in the poem-formatted message. “I've lost my best friend/My sanctuary/My protector/My soul.../I'm lost without you/We are lost without you babe/I have no words.”
London, known for her work on “ATL” and “Entourage,” had been with Hussle for about five years, and the couple had a 2-year-old son, Kross.
Holder has a criminal record that includes a 2009 arrest and charge of domestic battery against the mother of his child, The Blast reported. 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, Holder was ordered not to “own, use or possess any dangerous or deadly weapons, including firearms, knives or other concealable weapons,” The Blast reported.
Hussle transformed himself from a South Los Angeles gang member to a rap musician and channeled his success into efforts to help others stay out of gangs. He bought shoes for students, re-paved basketball courts and provided jobs and shelter for the homeless.
Hussle helped renovate a Mid-City roller rink and redeveloped the strip mall that housed his Marathon Clothing shop where he was fatally wounded.
Photo: Getty Images