Man arrested in fatal shooting of Jacqueline Avant
The suspect was arrested while allegedly committing another robbery nearby.
A man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of Jacqueline Avant.
As theGrio previously reported, Jacqueline, the wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant, was shot and killed in a home invasion robbery on Tuesday. The suspect remained at large, according to Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Stainbrook‘s press conference update.
On Thursday afternoon, the Beverly Hills Police Department announced that a 29-year-old man, Aariel Maynor of Los Angeles, has been arrested in connection to the murder.
Maynor’s vehicle was reportedly identified on surveillance video driving out of the city shortly after the shooting. While the motive still remains unclear, Maynor is a parolee who has “an extensive criminal history,” according to police.
During Thursday’s media conference, Stainbrook explained, “At this time, we’re only looking at him as a suspect, but again, there’s a lot of evidence to go through, so we’re leaving open the possibility there could be other people involved.”
Maynor was located after LAPD Hollywood Division officers responded to a shooting in the 6000 block of Graciosa Drive. He was reportedly found in the backyard with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his foot. An AR-15 rifle was collected as part of the evidence connecting the two alleged robberies, police say.
Maynor was arrested, taken to a local hospital, and will be transferred to jail when he’s medically cleared. LAPD Deputy Chief Blake Chow revealed that it was “an astute watch commander at Hollywood that, starting to put two and two together, and reached out to Beverly Hills.”
Stainbrook said that he did not believe the attack to be random but provided no further details.
“I don’t think it was a random attack…[but] I can’t speculate on that right now,” he said, adding that the murder was “a difficult day for our city.”
He continued, “The Avant family’s contributions to the world of entertainment, and the communities across Los Angeles are unmatched. There are no words to express our profound sorrow for this immense loss for Jacqueline’s husband, Clarence, their children and the entire Avant family.”
The Avants were married for 54 years and have two children, Nicole and Alexander. Nicole is the former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas and wife of Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. She produced The Black Godfather, a 2019 Netflix documentary on her father.
The family has received an outpouring of supportive messages from members of the entertainment and political community since Jacqueline’s tragic death.
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