A 31-year-old man suspected of killing a woman in Hollywood because of a financial dispute in an initially mysterious shotgun murder was scheduled for arraignment in a downtown Los Angeles court Tuesday, according to authorities.
The case gained widespread media attention because a man walked up behind the victim and her boyfriend and appeared to target the woman, shooting her from behind. Motive for what appeared to be a purposeful assassination was at first a mystery.
Ezeoma Obioha knew the victim, 30-year-old Carrie Melvin, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Liliana Preciado said.
Obioha’s financial dispute with Melvin was over a check he’d bounced and she had threatened to take him to court to collect the several hundred dollars, according to various reports. Melvin had a social media company and agreed to market Obioha’s “hoodfellas” clothing.
Obioha, who was already in custody, was booked on suspicion of murder at the LAPD’s Olympic Station at 7:53 p.m. Friday, according to the sheriff’s department. His bail was set at $1 million, according to online booking records.
Melvin was walking with her boyfriend near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and McCadden Place around 10:10 p.m. on July 5 when the suspect allegedly walked up behind them and fired a single shotgun round at Melvin.
The suspect then walked to a parked car and drove away.
Obioha was already in custody, having been arrested in the LAPD’s Hollywood division on Friday morning on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale, when he was booked in connection with Melvin’s death, according to the sheriff’s department Inmate Information Center operator.
—Staff and wire reports