Carrie Jean Melvin, a 30-year-old aspiring actress murdered July 5 in Los Angeles, had a financial dispute with a man who has now been arrested in connection with her death.
Ezeoma Obioha, 31, was being held in the Los Angeles detention center on a $1 million bond, Los Angeles Police Officer Liliana Preciado told
The Hollywood Reporter.
"We have been working hard around the clock on this and we didn't want to draw attention to the leads we developed," said Los Angeles Police Lt. John Radke,
according to KTLA-TV, apparently in reference to the low profile of the Melvin case. "This was a terrible crime and it is one of those scenes you'll never forget."
Melvin was near Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood with her boyfriend when a person approached the couple from behind and fired a shot into the back of her head.
The shooting happened blocks away from a high tourist destination and the Dolby Theater which hosts the Academy Awards,
reported CNN.
"It's a good community, the crime rate is relatively low, we don't have many incidents that occur in the area," said John Skaggs, an LAPD detective.
Police told KTLA-TV that Melvin and Obioha had an ongoing financial dispute at the time of the shooting.
Melvin moved to Los Angeles from Morro Bay, California, in 2011 to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. She had worked as a production assistant in Hollywood, according to THR.
"Everyone you talked to just loved her," Melvin's father, Bernie Melvin, told the Los Angeles Times. "She was a joy to be around. When she looked at you, you felt like you were in the spotlight."
"Carrie was the happiest she has ever been … We knew this. She was with someone she loved," Bernie Melvin told KTLA-TV. "She was where she wanted to be, and her life was taken."
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