Eric Lynn Thomas, 28, known to family and friends as LIL E, was shot and killed in Pasadena on the evening of May 2, 2022. Officers responded at about 8:42 p.m. after 911 calls and a ShotSpotter alert and found him unresponsive in the common area of an apartment complex in the 1700 block of North Fair Oaks Avenue; he had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene. It was the city’s first fatal shooting detected by ShotSpotter.

Detectives identified a white, newer-model four-door SUV seen fleeing the area and later named a suspect they said was connected to a local criminal street gang. Avery Lavon Bennett, 34, was arrested on January 19, 2023, and charged with one felony count of homicide; he was also found with two loaded firearms at the time of his arrest. A jury acquitted Bennett of the murder charge in April 2026, and the killing remains unsolved.

Anyone who knew Eric or has information about the shooting is asked to contact Pasadena Police detectives at (626) 744-4241.