Capital murder charge in woman's Hollywood murder
LOS ANGELES - A man arrested in connection with the shooting death of a woman gunned down while walking with her boyfriend in Hollywood earlier this month has been charged with capital murder, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Ezeoma Obioha, 31, was charged Tuesday in the killing of 30-year-old Carrie Melvin, who was fatally shot July 5 on a residential street just off Sunset Boulevard.
Obioha was arrested on suspicion of murder in the case on Friday.
The 31-year-old is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday and prosecutors will ask that he be held without bail, the district attorney's office said in a press release.
Obioha is charged with one count of murder with the special circumstances of lying in wait and murder for financial gain. The special circumstances allegations make Obioha eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek death or life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted.
According to police, Obioha had a business relationship with Melvin and the killing likely stemmed from a financial dispute.
Obioha, a security guard and the owner of a fledgling clothing line, had signed a contract with Melvin's newly launched social media company to market his business, Lt. John Radke told the Los Angeles Times.
A dispute erupted when Obioha wrote Melvin a check that bounced and Melvin threatened to take him to court, officials said. Melvin never received the several hundred dollars she was owed, police said.