Ronni Sue Chasen (October 17, 1946[1] – November 16, 2010) was an American publicist, who once represented such actors as Michael Douglas, as well as musicians such as Hans Zimmer and Mark Isham, among others.
[7] Chasen successfully directed the Oscar campaign for the 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture the following year.
When police arrived, they found Chasen slumped in the driver's seat, the steering wheel airbag inflated, with blood emanating from her nose and chest area, in and out of consciousness with the front passenger side window shattered.
[6] Beverly Hills Police Department sources stated that Chasen received three gunshot wounds to the chest and one to the back,[15] causing her to lose control of the vehicle just after turning from Sunset Boulevard onto Whittier Drive.
[16] The Los Angeles Times reported the man, a convicted felon named Harold Martin Smith,[3] was approached by police in the apartment lobby, at which point he pulled out a pistol and shot himself in the head.
However, on December 8, 2010 the Beverly Hills Police Department declared its preliminary conclusion that Chasen's murder had been a random act of violence, a robbery attempt turned violent.