Prosecutors in Los Angeles have charged a 69-year-old man with premeditated murder, saying he killed his 29-year-old son because he was gay. On Tuesday, police answering a call to the man’s home in North Hills found the bodies of his son, Amir Issa, and his wife, who was not identified. Shehadeh Khalil Issa insists he shot his son in self-defense. He told police that after he found his wife dead in the bathroom he heard noises outside and armed himself with a shotgun. That’s when he allegedly came across his son, who he claims threatened him with a knife.
“He claimed (the son) was armed with a knife, and there was no knife to be found (there). It was a horrible family tragedy,” Detective John Doerbecker told the Los Angeles Daily News.
Prosecutors say Issa had threatened to kill his son in the past because of his sexual orientation. “The murder was committed because of the victim’s sexual orientation and because of the defendant’s perception of that status and the victims’ association with a person and a group of that status,” prosecutors said in a statement.
