Ojai Man Held in Shooting Death Outside Stable
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OJAI — A 37-year-old Ojai man was arrested Thursday in the shooting death of a man outside a Meiners Oaks stable earlier this week.
Authorities booked Matthew Mattley into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of murder. Mattley is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail. Deputies said a caller reported hearing an argument and then a gunshot shortly before 12:30 a.m. Sunday in the 1000 block of West Roblar Street. Deputies found Brent Price of Arizona lying outside the Riverview Ranch with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Authorities took Price, 29, to Ojai Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2 a.m., deputies said.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 30-year-old female friend of Price’s on suspicion of murder Monday. But deputies said that as the investigation continued, Mattley became the prime suspect.
Following interviews with both suspects, deputies said the woman was released and probably will not be charged.
A jail spokesman said Mattley will be arraigned on Monday.
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