LOS ANGELES — The man accused of killing Jacqueline Avant in her Beverly Hills home last year pleaded guilty to murder and weapons charges on Thursday, authorities said.
Police said Aariel Maynor, 30, broke into Avant's Trousdale Estates home with an AR-15 rifle one night in December and opened fire, fatally wounding the prominent philanthropist. He also shot at her security guard, prosecutors said.
"This crime continues to shock the conscience. Mrs. Avant's death was a tragic loss felt by our entire community," Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement.
Maynor pleaded guilty to murder, attempted murder, possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of burglary. He faces more than 100 years in prison when he is sentenced this month, Gascon said.
Avant, 81, was shot three times after her assailant broke a sliding glass door with what is believed to be a rock, law enforcement sources told the Los Angele Times last year.
Her husband, music producer Clarence Avant, was home at the time but did not see the shooting, police said. He told investigators that he heard an argument before the gunfire began.
(Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.)
