A suspect has been arrested in connection with the death of Clarence Avant’s wife, Jacqueline. According to the Los Angeles Times, 29-year-0ld Aariel Maynor was taken into custody moments after her fatal shooting.
Jaqueline was fatally shot by Maynor, who broke into her and Clarence’s property in the Trousdale Estates neighborhood early Wednesday morning (Dec. 1). According to the outlet, the gunman made his way into the home at around 2:30 am and shot at the 81-year-old philanthropist with an AR-15 rifle before fleeing the scene. His vehicle was captured leaving Beverly Hills in the moments after the shooting.
Later in the day, a man was later found in the backyard of a Hollywood home during an attempted robbery. He’d shot himself in the foot during the attack and was taken to a hospital. An “astute watch commander” connected the dots between both incidents and alerted authorities. Maynor has since been in police custody.
“It is a sad case, and although we are happy we have an arrest, I feel so bad for the family,” Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Stainbrook.
As previously reported by REVOLT, officers responding to calls of the Beverly Hills shooting arrived at the Avant estate on Wednesday, where they discovered Jacqueline with gunshot wounds. She was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Hospital and pronounced dead; her husband, music executive Clarence aka “The Black Godfather,” and private security guard, who was shot at, both survived the attack unscathed.`
Investigators told The Times that a sliding glass door appeared to be smashed and may have served as Maynor’s point of entry. As of now, no obvious items were missing from the home. Stainbrook said it’s too early to determine whether the attack was part of a robbery attempt.
“A lot of times people think of home invasion when it comes to robbing or burglarizing a residence,” he said. “And so obviously someone went into the home. We just don’t know what for, what the purpose was or the motive was behind it.”
The probe into Jacqueline’s shooting death continues.