Two people charged in the murder of a slain Woodland Hills doctor are expected to appear in court Monday for what police are describing as an ambush. target hit.
Sarallah Jawed, 26, is expected to appear before a Los Angeles Superior Court judge just days after he was arrested and charged in the murder of 61-year-old Dr. Hamid Mirshojae. Ashley Rose Sweeting, 40, is expected to appear in court in Van Nuys.
Mirshojae that was shot on the evening of August 23 as he left his medical clinic along Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Los Angeles police said. The gunman had been hiding around a corner of the clinic, waiting for Mirshojae to leave, when he opened fire several times, police said. Miroshojae was later pronounced dead.
Ahang Mirshojae, 53, divorced the doctor in 2010, public records show. She was arrested on Thursday but has not been charged.
Friday has the The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has announced criminal charges against three individuals: Jawed, Sweeting and 41-year-old Evan Hardman.
Jawed and Hardman have been charged with murder and assault with a deadly weapon, according to prosecutors. Jawed and Hardman each face a special circumstance count of murder for financial gain.
Jawed is accused of attacking the doctor in May, months before the fatal shooting, according to prosecutors. They also claim that Jawed facilitated the murder and drove Hardman out of the state a few days later.
Hardman was arrested Tuesday in the Houston area. Prosecutors believe Hardman is the suspected shooter. He is awaiting extradition, according to the LA County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors later charged Sweeting as an accomplice. They believe she drove Hardman to and from the scene of the fatal shooting. She pleaded not guilty at a hearing Thursday along with charges that she had one or more prior convictions for serious or violent crimes.
Deputy District Attorney Ben Schwartz told Superior Court Judge Susan J. De Witt that Sweeting allegedly drove the gunman to and from the crime scene in a “situation that resembled a murder-for-hire.”
Prosecutors have not announced charges against the doctor’s ex-wife or a final suspect, 46-year-old Shawn Randolph. On Thursday, the LAPD said the charges against them have been submitted to the district attorney’s office for consideration.
Authorities have yet to determine how all of the people arrested in the investigation know each other. Although prosecutors allege that Hardman and Jawed participated in the murder for financial gain, authorities have not identified a possible motive for Dr.’s ex-wife. Mirshojae and the other two people arrested in connection with his death.