Parolee Aariel Maynor Charged With Murder Of Philanthropist Jacqueline Avant
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A parolee was charged Monday with the murder of philanthropist Jacqueline Avant and the attempted murder of her security guard during a robbery.
Aariel Maynor, 29, was charged with one count each of murder, attempted murder, and being a felon with a firearm. He also faces two counts of residential burglary with a person present, and an allegation of using an assault long barrel pistol during the crimes, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Maynor is accused of killing 81-year-old Jacqueline Avant, a philanthropist known for her work with UCLA, the Wallis Center for the Arts, and Neighbors of Watts, a child care support group in South LA. Avant's husband, 90-year-old music executive Clarence Avant, was not hurt in the robbery.
"Mrs. Avant was a treasured member of our community," District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement. "Her generosity and good will touched so many lives."
The home invasion shooting happened last Wednesday at the couple's Beverly Hills home. Maynor also shot at the security guard, who was not injured, Gascon said, and was arrested shortly after the shooting at the Avant home, at the scene of another break-in at a home in the Hollywood Hills, where he was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his foot and an AR-15 rifle nearby.
Maynor was scheduled to be arraigned Monday, but that hearing was postponed to Tuesday because he is undergoing surgery.
