One of the two men who was shot alongside Nipsey Hussle has been released from jail. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department website, Kerry Lathan was released from a California detention center on Saturday (April 20), 12 days after his initial arrest.
The former Rolling ’60s Crip was struck by a bullet near his spine on March 31, the day of Nip’s murder. He’d been released from prison seven months earlier after serving 25 years for a murder charge.
After receiving treatment at the hospital, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation arrested Lathan on a parole violation for associating with a known gang member.
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Lauren Noriega, Lathan’s attorney, said the 56-year-old man was simply an innocent bystander. Contrary to previous reports, Lathan said he wasn’t there to meet Nipsey for clothing.
“He wasn’t there to propose any business to Nipsey,” Noriega told KABC-TV. “He had no idea that Nipsey would be there.”
Lathan explained it was “by chance” he was near the Grammy Award-nominated rapper when the gunman approached them.
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In an interview with VladTV, Lathan said, “When I go in there, they didn’t have the white [shirts] that I wanted. I said, ‘When y’all gon’ get that in again?’ He said, ‘Well, there go Nipsey in the lot. Go talk to him.’ And I talked to him.
“He said, ‘That’ll be about a week, bro.’ I said, ‘OK.’ And when I said it, it was all bad.”
Last Thursday (April 18), The Department of Corrections announced it will drop the allegations against Lathan. He still has a bullet in his back from the tragic shooting and has trouble walking due to a chip in his pelvis.
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Noriega said Lathan immediately began to cry when he found out he was being released from custody.
“He’s very excited to get back to his family,” Noriega said.
Nipsey’s funeral was held on April 11 at the Los Angeles Staples Center, where thousands of people showed up to pay their respects. In the wake of his murder, the intersection of Crenshaw and Slauson — where the shooting occurred — has been renamed Nipsey Hussle Square.
