Man writes bounced check to his client, then kills her in LA after she complains

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of a Hollywood production assistant and police say the killing had to do with a dispute over money.

Ezeoma Obioha, 31, was arrested on Friday night and remains in jail where he is being held on a $1million bail.

Obioha and Carrie Jean Melvin knew each other and had a financial dispute. 30 year old Melvin was walking with her boyfriend in Hollywood, California, earlier this month when a Obioha walked up behind them, aimed a shotgun at her head and pulled the trigger.

 

'We have been working hard around the clock on this and we didn't want to draw attention to the leads we developed,' Lt. John Radke of the Los Angeles Police Department said to reporters

'This was a terrible crime and it is one of those scenes you'll never forget.'

Obioha, with civic ties and an emerging clothing line, contracted Melvin's new online business to market his company, Radke said.

The dispute occurred when he wrote her a bad check that bounced and she threatened him with legal action, according to authorities. Melvin did not ever receive the money she was owed, police said.

After he shot her,he jumped into a black sedan and drove off. Melvin died at the scene.

Melvin’s father called his daughter’s death “incredibly senseless.” Bernie Melvin said she had studied film at UC Santa Cruz and moved to Hollywood about four years ago to break into the entertainment industry. Like many young Angelenos, he said, Carrie Melvin worked several jobs, waitressing, bartending, while pursuing that dream.

 

Her father, Bernie, said he knew about the incident involving his daughter and a client who wrote a check that bounced.

He said it put a strain on her financially causing her to add shifts waitressing and that she was not able to celebrate his birthday or travel to the family's home for Father's Day.

'I'm thankful that he was apprehended and arrested, but we can't celebrate,' her father, Bernie Melvin

“She was really kind of spreading her wings,” he said at the time. “It’s an extreme loss to us. She had a lot to give, and her life was cut short.”

 

LA Times