Beverly Hills police on Thursday arrested a 29-year-old Los Angeles man in reference to the killing of Jacqueline Avant, a prominent philanthropist and spouse of music legend Clarence Avant, as extra particulars emerged in regards to the stunning crime.
Authorities accused Aariel Maynor of coming into the couple’s Trousdale Estates house early Wednesday and capturing Jacqueline Avant with an AR-15 rifle. Police didn’t disclose a motive for the assault. However hours later, Maynor shot himself within the foot at one other house throughout an alleged housebreaking try, police mentioned, and that’s how he was linked to the Avant slaying.
The arrest marked a swift finish to a manhunt in a case that despatched shock waves all through Hollywood and nationwide politics, by which the Avants had been distinguished figures who counted celebrities in addition to former President Clinton as buddies.
“It’s a unhappy case, and though we’re completely happy we now have an arrest, I really feel so unhealthy for the household,” Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Stainbrook mentioned. “The proof so far exhibits that just one suspect was concerned within the crime and the motive stays underneath investigation. Our focus now has transitioned from discovering a suspect to a seamless investigation that can result in a profitable prosecution.”
A number of surveillance cameras confirmed Maynor’s car heading east out of Beverly Hills after the Avant capturing, authorities mentioned.
Shortly after Avant was shot, officers from the Los Angeles Police Division’s Hollywood division arrived at a house within the 6000 block of Graciosa Drive within the Hollywood Hills. They discovered a person within the yard who had a gunshot wound to his foot. Police decided that he had by accident shot himself throughout an alleged housebreaking try on the house and was arrested and brought to a hospital.
An “astute watch commander” in Hollywood linked the dots to the Avant case and alerted Beverly Hills, LAPD Deputy Chief Blake Chow mentioned. Maynor has been in police custody since.
Police described the rifle as a “conventional” AR-15, not the compact selection.
The Beverly Hills Police Division has taken cost of the investigation into the Beverly Hills and Hollywood incidents. Police say surveillance and different proof, together with the rifle, linked Maynor to each circumstances.

Aariel Maynor, 29, was arrested in reference to the killing of Jacqueline Avant.
(California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation)
Maynor was sentenced to a five-year jail time period in November 2013 for second-degree theft and inflicting nice bodily harm, in keeping with California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesperson Joe Orlando.
Most lately, he served a four-year sentence for second-degree theft with enhancements for a previous felony. He was launched on parole supervision on Sept. 1 after serving his full sentence, Orlando mentioned.
In line with the Division of Corrections, Maynor didn’t have a everlasting deal with when he was launched.
Neither Maynor nor his lawyer may very well be reached for remark, and a member of the family declined to remark when reached Thursday afternoon.
What gave the impression to be the suspect’s Fb web page says he attended Hartnell Faculty in Salinas, Calif., and was self-employed as an electrician. The web page exhibits a Bible verse that reads, “It’s an abomination for a king to commit wickedness as a result of the throne is constructed on righteousness.”
Police responded to a name of a capturing within the 1100 block of Maytor Place shortly earlier than 2:30 a.m. Wednesday and discovered Jacqueline Avant with a gunshot wound. She was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Heart, the place she later died. Avant’s husband and a safety guard had been additionally on the house through the capturing, Stainbrook mentioned.
The chief mentioned it appeared nothing had been taken from the house, however it’ll take a while to say with certainty.
Aerial video of the scene Wednesday confirmed a sliding glass door that appeared to have been shattered.
Hours after the arrest, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti remembered Avant as “a buddy.”
“I do know we use this time period lots, however really [she was] an angel within the Metropolis of Angels,” Garcetti mentioned. “She and Clarence, Nicole their daughter, I’ve identified for a few years, and I’ve seen and witnessed the best way their generosity touched the lives and reworked the lives and even saved the lives of so many individuals on this metropolis and on this nation. And my ideas proceed to be with the Avant household right now.”
Along with being an L.A. philanthropist, Avant, 81, was a prominent figure in nationwide Democratic politics for many years.
Clinton was amongst those that paid tribute to Avant after the capturing, tweeting that she was “an exquisite lady, a terrific accomplice to Clarence and mom to Alex and Nicole, an lively citizen & an expensive buddy to Hillary and me for 30 years.
“She impressed admiration, respect & affection in everybody who knew her,” Clinton mentioned. “We’re heartbroken. She might be deeply missed.”
Avant served at one time as president of the Neighbors of Watts, a assist group for the South Central Group Youngster Care Heart, and as leisure chair of the NOW profit public sale.
Her husband is a legendary determine within the music business, working with or advising such stars as Jimmy Smith, Lalo Schifrin, Babyface, Invoice Withers, Sixto Rodriguez, the S.O.S. Band and Cherrelle.
Generally known as the “Black Godfather,” he acquired a star on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame in 2016 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in 2021.
Their daughter, Nicole Avant, served as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas throughout President Obama’s administration and is married to Ted Sarandos, co-chief govt and chief content material officer for Netflix. In 2007, she described her dad and mom’ deep ties to Democratic leaders, together with the Clintons.
In an announcement, the Avant and Sarandos household mentioned: “Our deepest gratitude to The Metropolis of Beverly Hills, the BHPD and all regulation enforcement for his or her diligence on this matter. Now, let justice be served.”
In saying the arrest Thursday, Stainbrook mentioned, “To the Beverly Hills neighborhood, let me reassure you, this is among the most protected and patrolled cities on the planet. Crime of any type is not going to be tolerated right here.
“Let this be a message to anybody considering of committing against the law in Beverly Hills: You can be caught and dropped at justice,” the chief mentioned.
Occasions workers writers Gregory Yee and Matthew Ormseth contributed to this report.