A 32-year-old defendant was found guilty on Dec. 13 of murdering a female victim in Hollywood during the Fourth of July weekend in 2015.

Ezeoma Chigozie Obioha was convicted of one count of first-degree murder. The jury also found him guilty of the special allegation that the murder was committed for financial gain and that he used a gun to commit the crime. Obioha faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced.

Prosecutors alleged Obioha murdered Carrie Jean Melvin on July 5, 2015, as she walked with her boyfriend on Sunset Boulevard near McCadden Place. The suspect shot Melvin in the head with a shotgun. Authorities contended he hid near Melvin’s residence and waited for her to leave. Melvin’s boyfriend was not injured.

The motive stemmed from a dispute between the defendant and the victim over money he owed her for marketing his clothing business Obioha owned. Melvin allegedly filed a complaint against Obioha with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office in the days prior to the murder, claiming his $1,620 check bounced.

Obioha once ran a fledgling clothing business called Hoods Inc. in the 5500 block of Pico Boulevard. He also worked as a security guard at a medical marijuana clinic.

The evidence against Obioha included a shotgun found by a citizen in Malibu days after the homicide that was registered to Obioha, as well as a shotgun shell found at the beach that was the same type as one found at the scene of the homicide.

Obioha is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 5 for sentencing.