In a twist that highlights and bolds the need for Meek Mill’s prison reform alliance, the man Nipsey Hussle was helping when he was shot at his Marathon store has been arrested for violating his parole, according to TMZ. As it happens, Kerry Lathan, Nipsey’s 56-year-old friend who was also shot in the back at the same time, had just left a 20-year sentence for murder and was arrested at the halfway house where he currently resides for associating with a known gang member — Nipsey Hussle.
Nipsey was reportedly only at Marathon the afternoon of March 31 because he wanted to help Lathan get fresh for family when he returned home. It was a spur of the moment decision that led Nipsey to leave behind his usual security escort to meet up Kerry, only to end up dead when a man opened fire with a handgun after a moment of perceived disrespect. Nipsey, Kerry, and Kerry’s nephew were all hit and taken to the hospital, where Nipsey died after paramedics were unable to save him from his injuries.
Meanwhile, Lathan was treated and discharged to his temporary home where LAPD officers took him into custody for violating the terms of his release. Parolees in gang-related crimes are instructed not to associate with other known gang members upon release — which often cuts them off from the only social connections they have after lengthy sentences — and police cite Nipsey’s well-known membership in the Rollin 60s Neighborhood Crips as a form of violation.
In all honesty, this is just nuts. Lathan was fresh out, his friend offered to help him out and paid the ultimate price for it, leaving Lathan himself a victim of collateral damage. Now, he’s confined to a wheelchair as he recovers from his shooting in Men’s Central Jail in Downtown LA, likely has survivor’s remorse for being the reason Nipsey was at the store with no security, and the police want to revoke his parole for merely accepting an offer of charity from the friend who LA just celebrated and laid to rest. There’s a whole lot wrong with that picture. Hopefully, someone in charge has a sense of decency (or at least shame) or the tragedy that is Nipsey Hussle’s death might end up with an even more miserable coda.
