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Hollywood Shotgun Murder Suspect In Dispute With Victim Over 'A Few Hundred Dollars'
Ezeoma Obioha, arrested on suspicion of murder for the killing of Carrie Jean Melvin (via Facebook)
Police say the man arrested for the shotgun killing of a woman on Sunset Boulevard was in a financial dispute with his victim.The LAPD arrested 31-year old Ezeoma Obioha on Friday evening around 7:15 p.m. and booked on suspicion of murder. Obioha is accused of walking up behind Carrie Jean Melvin on the night of July 5 around 10 p.m.—as she and her boyfriend were walking on Sunset Boulevlard and McCadden Place (near Highland Boulevard)—and shooting her in the back of the head with a shotgun. Melvin died at the scene, but her boyfriend was unhurt in the shooting and the shooter drove off without saying a word.
"We have been working hard around the clock on this and we didn't want to draw attention to the leads we developed," Lieutenant John Radke told the L.A. Times. "This was a terrible crime and it is one of those scenes you'll never forget."
The killing was originally thought to be a random act of violence but investigators now believe Melvin was targeted by Obioha due to a financial dispute. According to KFI AM 640, Obioha had hired Melvin to "produce online promotions for a security or clothing business." Just days before the killing, Melvin threatened to take Obioha to small claims court over a check he either bounced or canceled. The check was only for a few hundred dollars.
According to her LinkedIn, Melvin was the head of a social media company. Obioha lists himself as the head of a clothing company called Hoodfellas on his Facebook page, and is also the security guard at a pot dispensary. Police raided both the clothing store and the pot shop:
According to the report, Obioha had been named a suspect just days after the murder and was the focus of the investigation about a week after the shooting.
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