Suspect In Custody In Jacqueline Avant Shooting

On Wednesday, we reported the tragic news that Jacqueline Avant, the wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant, had been shot and killed during a home invasion and robbery at the couple’s Trousdale Estates home in Beverly Hills, on Tuesday night.

Source: Paul Archuleta / Getty

Well now, the Beverly Hills Police Department has a suspect in custody—a parolee with an extensive criminal record who the police found after he had apparently shot himself in the foot.

According to CBS Los Angeles, Beverly Hills police Chief Mark Stainbrook has identified the shooting suspect as 29-year-old Aariel Maynor, whose vehicle was spotted on several surveillance cameras driving away from the scene of the crime. Maynor was reportedly arrested after LAPD’s Hollywood Division officers responded to a call regarding another home robbery and shooting, but this time the only person shot was the alleged burglar. Police found Maynor in the backyard of the home suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the foot.

LAPD Deputy Chief Blake Chow said in a statement that it was an “astute watch commander at Hollywood that, starting to put two and two together, and reached out to Beverly Hills” prompting a Beverly Hills detective to come out to investigate due to the similarities between that robbery and the one that ended in Jacqueline’s death. Police officials also pointed out that while they think they have the man who killed Jacqueline, the investigation is still ongoing.

“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,” Stainbrook said.

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Maynor’s most recent release from prison came on September 1, when he was paroled after serving four years for second-degree robbery. He had also served time for a separate robbery and grand theft conviction.

According to the Los Angeles Times, evidence connecting Maynor to the Avant shooting includes an AR-15-style rifle police said was used in both robberies committed the night Jacqueline was killed.

Hopefully, Jacqueline’s killer is brought to justice. Unfortunately, it won’t bring her back.