A 30-year-old man pleaded guilty Thursday to the murder of philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, the wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant.
Aariel Maynor pleaded guilty in the fatal shooting of Avant and the attempted murder of her security guard at her Beverly Hills home in December, Los Angeles County prosecutors said.
Maynor also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of burglary.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 30 and could be sentenced to up to 170 years in prison, prosecutors said.
"This crime continues to shock the conscience," District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement. "Mrs. Avant's death was a tragic loss felt by our entire community."
Gascon said Maynor will be ineligible for elderly parole.
Police were called to the Avants' home early on the morning of Dec. 1 and found Jacqueline Avant, 81, with a gunshot wound. She was taken to the hospital but did not survive.
He also fired on a security guard, authorities said. Neither the guard nor Clarence Avant was hurt.
An hour later, Los Angeles police officers arrested Maynor, a parolee who had shot himself in the foot at a home in the Hollywood Hills about 7 miles (11.27 kilometers) away. He was arrested for burglary, and hours later was tied to the Avant shooting.
Authorities have said he was burglarizing both homes, and they don't believe he was targeting the Avants.
Jacqueline Avant was a longtime local philanthropist who led organizations that helped low-income neighborhoods including Watts and South Los Angeles, and was on the board of directors of the International Student Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Grammy-winning executive Clarence Avant is known as the "Godfather of Black Music" and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year. The 91-year-old was also a concert promoter and manager who mentored and helped the careers of artists including Bill Withers, Little Willie John, L.A. Reid, Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
The Avants were married for 54 years and had two children, Alexander Du Bois Avant and Nicole Avant, a film producer and former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas who is married to Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.
Jacqueline Avant's charitable work and personal connections made her a widely beloved figure. After her death, tributes to her came from former President Bill Clinton, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Quincy Jones, who said "The heaviness of my heart today is unlike any other that I have ever experienced."
This week, Avery Haines follows migrants' harrowing journeys across the Darien Gap. Strict new rules to stem the flood of migrants through the notorious stretch of dense jungle appear to be working, but advocates fear it could backfire.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly is asking members of the United Nations to counter growing political polarization.
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Dikembe Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died Monday after a battle with brain cancer, the league announced. He was 58.
A National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremony is planned in Ottawa this afternoon to honour the survivors of Canada's residential school system and the children who never returned home.
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Oasis shocked fans by announcing a reunion tour last month, ending a 15-year hiatus and, presumably, the long-held feud between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher. But those were only U.K. dates. On Monday, the band shared that they're planning on heading to North America in 2025, too.
A man who authorities say spent 12 hours camped outside Donald Trump's golf course before Secret Service spotted him with a rifle pleaded not guilty on Monday to federal charges including attempted assassination.
Seas of orange shirts have come to represent a growing awareness of Canada's history of oppressing Indigenous Peoples – but that awareness must translate into more "substantive changes" from the government, according to a B.C. chief.
A child was sent to hospital after being attacked by a coyote in northwest Calgary.
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The union representing longshore workers at the Port of Montreal began a three-day strike at two terminals.
Bullet casings recovered from the scene of a B.C. woman’s murder 30 years ago will be retested for DNA after the province’s highest court ruled it is “in the interests of justice†to do so in support of an ongoing appeal.
A National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremony is planned in Ottawa this afternoon to honour the survivors of Canada's residential school system and the children who never returned home.
A man who authorities say spent 12 hours camped outside Donald Trump's golf course before Secret Service spotted him with a rifle pleaded not guilty on Monday to federal charges including attempted assassination.
Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz will meet Tuesday in the lone vice presidential debate of the 2024 election, bringing together undercards who have spent two months going after each other and the opposing nominees who top the major-party tickets.
Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem, in his first public address since Israel assassinated the group's chief last week, said the movement is ready to confront any Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris poked at Donald Trump over crowd sizes, his refusal to debate again and his privileged background on Sunday as she hauled in campaign cash in California and held a raucous rally at the same Nevada venue where the Republican nominee had appeared just two weeks ago.
Republicans on Sunday sought to distance themselves from Donald Trump's latest insults of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during a rambling weekend rally in Wisconsin in which he called her 'mentally disabled.'
It had been 48 hours since the winds and rains from Hurricane Helene ripped through western North Carolina and Sam Perkins still had not heard from his parents.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly is asking members of the United Nations to counter growing political polarization.
The Liberal government is announcing more details on its existing strategy and funding to fight hate crimes.
Migrant groups are pushing the federal government to reverse its cap on international study permits and tightening post-graduate work permit qualifications, claiming it will leave many students 'in limbo.'
The family of Kendyl Smith-Trimm, a young girl who bravely battled cancer, has raised a staggering $66,500 in her memory for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
The fertility rate in Canada reached an all-time low in 2023, and the lowest rate was recorded in British Columbia, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
More than 550 symptomatic people responded to an online questionnaire about a gastrointestinal illness at a Prince Edward Island shellfish festival last weekend.
The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June welcomed their new ride home with Sunday's arrival of a SpaceX capsule.
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Canadian innovators and technical leaders gathered in Ottawa Thursday to demonstrate the latest cutting-edge technology.
Oasis shocked fans by announcing a reunion tour last month, ending a 15-year hiatus and, presumably, the long-held feud between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher. But those were only U.K. dates. On Monday, the band shared that they're planning on heading to North America in 2025, too.
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Alberta's premier spoke to calls for an outside, independent investigation into the death of Jon Wells during an incident involving Calgary police last week.
The union representing longshore workers at the Port of Montreal began a three-day strike at two terminals.
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Ask Meta Platforms Inc.'s head of artificial intelligence research how the technology could be made safer and she takes inspiration from an unlikely place: the grocery store.
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Kim Ruether lifted her son's eyelid and saw his still, dilated pupil staring at the ceiling as he lay on a stretcher in a northwestern Alberta hospital hallway a decade ago. She says she didn't need a doctor to tell her the boy was dead.
Many people consider eating less meat, be it for health, environmental or animal-welfare reasons. (Livestock accounts for nearly half of agricultural emissions fueling climate change.) But they sometimes hesitate because they are concerned about how they would replace all that lost protein.
Toronto Raptors team president Masai Ujiri tried to lay to rest rumours that he has friction with Edward Rogers, the executive chair of Rogers Communications, Inc.
Dikembe Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died Monday after a battle with brain cancer, the league announced. He was 58.
On Saturday night at her parents’ home in Delaware, Ont. the Olympic bronze medallist in pole vault welcomed everyone who played a role in getting her to the podium in Paris.
A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.
A U.S. driver somehow squeezed her vehicle through a parkade hallway at a Metro Vancouver casino Thursday, before getting stuck at an elevator bank.
More than 12,000 vehicles in Canada are included in two separate recalls by Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda.
On Saturday night at her parents’ home in Delaware, Ont. the Olympic bronze medallist in pole vault welcomed everyone who played a role in getting her to the podium in Paris.
A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.
When a group of B.C. filmmakers set out on a small fishing boat near Powell River last week, they hoped to capture some video for a documentary on humpback whales. What happened next blew their minds.
A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.
Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.
Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.
A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.
An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.
Seas of orange shirts have come to represent a growing awareness of Canada's history of oppressing Indigenous Peoples – but that awareness must translate into more "substantive changes" from the government, according to a B.C. chief.
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British Columbia's election campaign is entering its second week with each party's team of candidates in place and the leaders looking ahead to the upcoming televised debate.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford released a statement Monday marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, acknowledging what they described as the 'painful legacy' of the residential school system.
One person is dead following a shooting in Toronto’s Weston neighbourhood Monday morning.
Toronto Raptors team president Masai Ujiri tried to lay to rest rumours that he has friction with Edward Rogers, the executive chair of Rogers Communications, Inc.
The Calgary police homicide unit is investigating after two people were found dead in a home in the community of Penbrooke Meadows.
One person was taken to hospital after being hit by a vehicle in northwest Calgary on Monday morning.
Calgarians gathered for a rally on Sunday in support of the people of Lebanon as conflict between Israel and Hezbollah continues to escalate in the region.
The federal holiday on Sept. 30 will bring some schedule changes in Ottawa as Canada marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
A National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremony is planned in Ottawa this afternoon to honour the survivors of Canada's residential school system and the children who never returned home.
The family of Kendyl Smith-Trimm, a young girl who bravely battled cancer, has raised a staggering $66,500 in her memory for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
Several windows were damaged and spray painted with 'Free Gaza' during a protest at Concordia University Sunday night, Montreal police say.
The union representing longshore workers at the Port of Montreal began a three-day strike at two terminals.
The number of buildings located in flood-prone areas has doubled in Greater Montreal, according to maps posted online on Monday by the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC) council.
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Kim Ruether lifted her son's eyelid and saw his still, dilated pupil staring at the ceiling as he lay on a stretcher in a northwestern Alberta hospital hallway a decade ago. She says she didn't need a doctor to tell her the boy was dead.
Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and an A-list Hollywood actor, has died.
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This Monday, Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a federal statutory holiday and day of remembrance for the Indigenous children who never came home from Canadian residential schools, as well as those who survived them.
A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people’s basic human right to food.
Residents in Tadoule Lake, Man., and Churchill can expect to see heavy rain trickle in Sunday afternoon, lingering until Monday evening.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen touched down in Winnipeg this week, ahead of his lunar mission set to launch in a year’s time.
Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crews believe a candle caused a major house fire in the city’s William Whyte neighbourhood Sunday afternoon.
The Friends of the Regina Public Library (FRPL) sponsored an architectural tour on Sunday, for folks looking to learn more about the history of the library's historic central branch.
In front of the Saskatchewan Legislative building, law enforcement officers and members of the public gathered to pay tribute to peace officers who died in the line of duty.
A man is in custody after allegedly robbing a business in McLean, Sask. with an edged weapon on Saturday.
People in Guelph may notice a new addition at the entrance to Franchetto Park in Guelph.
A young motorcyclist has been taken to an out-of-region hospital after a single vehicle crash in Woolwich Township.
A grassroots organization is calling on the provincial government to reopen the Ontario Science Centre after it was abruptly closed in June following the discovery of structural issues in the building.
The fourth and final walk in memory of Megan Gallagher drew around one hundred people in Saskatoon on Sunday.
RCMP are seeking tips after a church on Main Street in Loon Lake burned to the ground.
Saskatoon Police Service has arrested a suspect in connection with two separate stabbing incidents that occurred earlier this month.
This Monday, Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a federal statutory holiday and day of remembrance for the Indigenous children who never came home from Canadian residential schools, as well as those who survived them.
A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.
If you're struggling to find a name for your baby, you may find some inspiration in a new list of popular names.
The City of London is informing drivers about temporary road restrictions on Wellington Street as part of the Downtown Loop Phase 3 finishing work and surface paving.
The very first -20 degree Celsius reading of the year has been recorded in Canada’s arctic – a good reminder that summer is officially behind us.
A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.
OPP officers arrested a suspect while he was in the middle of a possible theft Sunday morning in Wasaga Beach.
A Barrie police officer suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries while arresting a suspect Sunday afternoon.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized $11,000 US from an inbound American citizen at the Ambassador Bridge.
The City of Windsor has unveiled plans for the “Park in Perfect Harmony†initiative in the downtown core.
Shoppers can support local businesses at a pop-up sales event at Devonshire Mall.
Seas of orange shirts have come to represent a growing awareness of Canada's history of oppressing Indigenous Peoples – but that awareness must translate into more "substantive changes" from the government, according to a B.C. chief.
British Columbia's election campaign is entering its second week with each party's team of candidates in place and the leaders looking ahead to the upcoming televised debate.
Bullet casings recovered from the scene of a B.C. woman’s murder 30 years ago will be retested for DNA after the province’s highest court ruled it is “in the interests of justice†to do so in support of an ongoing appeal.
Fire crews in Vernon, B.C., responded to a large house fire early Saturday morning.
A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.
The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.
The sentencing for three men convicted of helping lead and coordinate the COVID-19 protest blockade at Coutts, Alta., in 2022 has been delayed.
A 10-year-old boy from Lethbridge is being praised as a hero after a routine summer outing at the pool nearly turned tragic for his friend.
A man and woman have been charged after a Lethbridge ice creamery was broken into earlier this week. Staff arrived at Cookie Crimes, in the 300 block of Sixth Street South, just before 5:30 a.m. on Monday to discover the front window broken.
Overnight on Thursday as the community of Elliot Lake was resting to prepare for the upcoming Kraft Hockeyville celebrations, when vandals struck a building that has been top of mind for the northern Ontario city for more than a year.
Ontario Provincial Police remind the public that ‘a case is never closed until it is solved,’ while highlighting the force's continued investigation of the 1996 disappearance of Melanie Ethier.
Sault residents may notice some commotion on the Algoma University campus over the next two weeks as a team conducts an archaeological search.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people’s basic human right to food.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
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