Hollywood shooting suspect pleads not guilty to capital murder charge

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A businessman suspected of fatally shooting a woman in the head on a Hollywood sidewalk earlier this month plead not guilty to a capital murder charge Tuesday afternoon.

Ezeoma Chigozie Obioha has been ordered to remain jailed without bail.

He's accused of shooting 30-year-old Carrie Jean Melvin execution-style as she walked with her boyfriend near Sunset Boulevard and McCadden Place on July 5.

The sidewalk attack was precipitated by a financial dispute over social media promotion work she did for his company, Hoods. Inc.

Obioha allegedly wrote Melvin a bad check and she threatened to take him to court, police said. She never received the money that she was owed.

Obioha was arrested by LAPD Hollywood Division officers Friday morning on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale and was re-booked on suspicion of murder Friday night during the later investigation.

The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and murder for financial gain, along with an allegation that he personally and intentionally discharged a shotgun.

Obioha's defense attorney, Jovan Blacknell, said his client is eager to defend himself.

"He's extremely concerned. His freedom, his liberty is at stake, and so he's of course shaken like anyone else would be, but he's confident that the truth is on his side," Blacknell said.

Obioha served on the LAPD's community advisory board in the Wilshire District as the secretary to the Picfair Village Community Association. He also worked as a security guard at a marijuana dispensary and offered private security services.

Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Obioha. He's due back in court on Aug. 31.