Jacqueline Avant, Wife Of Music Executive Clarence Avant

Jacqueline Avant, Wife Of Music Executive Clarence Avant, Found Shot To Death In Beverly Hills Home Invasion

By Associated Press
Today at 2:00 p.m. EST

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Jacqueline Avant, a Los Angeles philanthropist and the wife of music legend Clarence Avant, was fatally shot in Beverly Hills, California, early Wednesday, according to authorities and a Netflix spokeswoman.

Netflix spokeswoman Emily Feingold confirmed that Jacqueline Avant was killed in the shooting. Avant’s daughter, Nicole, is married to Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer.

Jacqueline Avant was a local philanthropist who was president of the Neighbors of Watts and served on the board of directors of the International Student Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Her husband, Clarence Avant, is known as the “Godfather of Black Music” and was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Former President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris were among those who paid tribute to him in a video made for the induction ceremony in October.

Nicole Avant, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas from 2009 to 2011, is now a film producer whose work includes a 2019 Netflix documentary about her father, “The Black Godfather.” In an interview with NBC News about the documentary, she praised her mother.

“My mom is really the one who brought to my father and our family the love and passion and importance of the arts and culture and entertainment,” she said. “While my father was in it, making all the deals, my mother was the one who gave me, for example, my love of literature, my love of filmmaking, my love of storytelling.”

Beverly Hills police have not identified Jacqueline Avant as the victim in Wednesday’s violence. They have only said that detectives are investigating a shooting that killed one person.

The coroner’s office has not yet officially identified the person, either, but said the victim was reported as a woman in her 80s.

The suspect — or suspects — fled the scene and have not been found, Beverly Hills police said in a news release.

Police received a call at 2:23 a.m. reporting the shooting in a neighborhood. Officers found a person with a gunshot wound, who was later pronounced dead.

The police chief was expected to hold a briefing later in the day with more information.

TMZ first reported Jacqueline Avant’s death.

The Avants were married in 1967. They had two children, Nicole Avant and Alexander Du Bois Avant.

Clarence Avant, 90, is a Grammy-winning executive, 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.

He founded Sussex Records and Tabu Records in the 1960s and 1970s, and was chair of Motown Records in the 1990s.

Basketball icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson wrote on Twitter that he and his wife were “devastated” by the news of Avant’s death, calling her “one of our closest friends.”

“This is the saddest day in our lives,” he wrote.

Rep. Karen Bass, a Democrat from California, said she was heartbroken by the violence.

“Mrs. Avant was a force of compassion and empowerment locally and nationally for decades, as well as a model of service and giving back to those who needed it most,” Bass wrote on Twitter.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../d45c9138-52d3-11ec...

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BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA) — Jacqueline Avant, the wife of music executive Clarence Avant, was shot to death Wednesday in an apparent home invasion in Beverly Hills.

Beverly Hills police say a shooting at the 1100 block of Maytor Place was called in at 2:23 a.m. Wednesday. When officers arrived, they found a woman with a gunshot wound, and there were no suspects at the scene.

The woman was taken to a hospital, but did not survive. Statements from the Bakewell family of the Los Angeles Sentinel and Netflix identified the woman as 81-year-old Jacqueline Avant, the wife of 90-year-old music executive Clarence Avant and mother-in-law of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos. Clarence Avant, who was not injured in the shooting, is known as the “Godfather of Black Music” who nurtured the careers of Michael Jackson, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Babyface, according to Variety.

“Words cannot express the pain and devastation the Bakewell family, our community of well-wishers, and fans feel this morning over the senseless murder of our beloved friend/family member, Mrs. Jackie Avant,” a statement from the Los Angeles Sentinel said. “Her brutal murder is not only a loss to her entire family but is a terrible loss to everyone who met her. Her warm and kind personality was evident to everyone who came into contact with her, and her loving smile was a blessing to us all.”

The Avants were married for 54 years. Danny Bakewell Sr., who says he is a lifelong friend of the Avant family, said he was “overwhelmingly pained” at the loss of such a beautiful person.

“For her to be killed in such a senseless way is unfathomable. There are no human beings more kind and generous than Clarence and Jackie, and for their home and their lives to be violated in such a violent manner is unconscionable,” he said in a statement.

Homicide investigators are at the home, which is located in the Hollywood Hills, between Coldwater Canyon and Laurel Canyon Boulevards.

It’s not clear if the Avants were a victim of a follow-home robbery, which have been on the rise throughout the area and have prompted the LAPD to issue an alert last month. A number have involved celebrities.

Source: https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/.../jacqueline-avant.../