BEL AIR—On September 13, 2024, Miguel Angel Aguilar, 43, and his wife, Priscilla Valles, became the victims of a deadly shoot-out outside their Bel Air home, located on the 11400 block of North Thurston Circle, after they were targeted and followed home by four men in a grey Acura.
Aguilar and Valles were coming home from lunch at the Sunset Boulevard restaurant, Bossa Nova, where camera footage showed a grey Acura with tinted windows following the unknowing couple back to their Bel Air home.
The Los Angeles Police Department reported that Aguilar and his wife were confronted in their driveway by Jason Melara, his brother Mario Melara, Daymonee Johnson, and Malik Taylor, in an attempt to rob the couple of their watches. During the robbery, Aguilar was shot by the later identified assailant, Malik Taylor, with the shot resulting in Aguilar sustaining a serious head wound.
Gunshots were unleashed during the incident from Taylor and Aguilar, who has a concealed carry weapon permit (CCW) that led to Melara being shot in the back.
After the attempted robbery, the Melara brothers, Johnson, and Taylor fled the scene, and were later caught running a red light in Culver City as surveillance footage captured the men on their way to Southern California Hospital (SCH), where Mario later succumbed to his injuries. Aguilar survived his injuries for three months until he died on December 21, 2024.
Jason Melara, Malik Taylor and Daymonee Johnson, were arrested in Oakland, California, and transported to Berkeley City Jail, where they all pleaded not to the felony charges made against them. Aguilar was a popular fitness influencer and the founder and CEO of Self-Made Training Facility.
Felony charges for Melara, Malik, Taylor, and Johnson include: murder, attempted murder, attempted robbery, and Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
During a preliminary hearing on July 7, Judge Curtis Rappé of the Los Angeles County Superior Courts rejected the defense’s arguments and ruled that there is sufficient evidence to charge Mahki Taylor, Daymonee Johnson and Jason Melara for the deaths of Miguel Aguilar and Mario Melara’s deaths.
By Megan Hanson