Hollywood Shotgun Murder Suspect In Dispute With Victim Over 'A Few Hundred Dollars'

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.