Police Arrest Man With Gang Connection on Suspicion of Pasadena Man’s Murder

Pasadena police said a suspect was arrested last week in connection with the shooting death of a Pasadena resident in May.

28-year-old Eric Lynn Thomas, a Pasadena resident, was found around 8:42 p.m. on May 2 in the 1700 block of North Fair Oaks Avenue suffering from multiple gunshot wounds by officers responding to a call regarding “Shots Fired.”

Thomas was unresponsive and pronounced deceased at the scene, police said.

Detectives from the Pasadena Police Department’s Robbery / Homicide Unit responded to the crime scene and launched an immediate follow-up investigation.

Over the next several months, RHU detectives investigated leads and obtained evidence. Their “meticulous work” led to the identification of a suspect connected to a local criminal street gang, police said.

On January 19, the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Avery Lavon Bennett of Covina, was arrested outside his home by the U.S. Marshal’s Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Taskforce and members of the Pasadena Police Criminal Intelligence Unit.

Police reported that at the time of his arrest, Bennett was found to be in possession of two loaded guns.

The following day, January 20, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed one felony count of PC 187 (Homicide) against Bennett.

Bail was set at $3,050,000.

Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to call the Pasadena Police at (626)- 744-4241 or report information anonymously by contacting “Crime Stoppers” at (800) 222- TIPS (8477), via your smartphone by downloading the “P3 Tips” Mobile APP on Google Play or the Apple App Store, or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.