The shocking murder of 81-year-old philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, the wife of industry legend Clarence Avant, continues to reverberate throughout the music community. Jacqueline was shot and killed on Wednesday morning (December 1) during a home invasion in the affluent Trousdale Estate neighborhood near Beverly Hills.
Local police made an arrest roughly 24 hours after the incident and now, have identified him by name.
According to KTLA 5 Los Angeles, 29-year-old Aariel Maynor was taken into custody during a second burglary in the Hollywood Hills area. Police Chief Mark Stainbrook said several surveillance cameras caught Maynor, a career criminal, fleeing Beverly Hills and heading east. Around 3:30 a.m. local time, Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to a report of a shooting on Graciosa Drive in the Hollywood Hills.
Once on the scene, they discovered Maynor in the backyard suffering from a gunshot wound to his foot after accidentally shooting himself with an AR-15 rifle. He was promptly arrested and taken to a local hospital for treatment. Soon, police started to connect the dots: “We had an astute watch commander in Hollywood that started to put two and two together and reached out to Beverly Hills,” LAPD Deputy Chief Blake Chow said during a news briefing.
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“The motives in this case are still unknown, and we’re investigating all possible motives,” Stainbrook said. “And we will not speculate on anything that’s out there, including if this was a robbery attempt or not.”
Arrest Made In Clarence Avant Wife's Murder As Russell Simmons, Bobby Brown & Other Celebs Mourn
Stainbrook added crimes of this nature will not be tolerated in the Beverly Hills community, saying, “Let this be a message to anyone thinking of committing a crime in Beverly Hills, you will be caught and brought to justice.”
In 2019, Pharrell Williams paid tribute to influential music executive in “Letter to My Godfather,” a song from the Netflix documentary The Black Godfather. The 90-year-old North Carolina native was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year and is the recipient of the Ahmet Ertegun award, an honor given to non-performing industry professionals.
