Father 'shot his son dead for being gay' and 'stabbed to death his wife'

Shehada Khalil Issa, 69, was arrested Tuesday after police arrived at his North Hills home to find the bodies of his son Amir, 29, and his wife, who has not been named, dead. Photo / NBC News

An LA father shot and killed his son in an act of premeditated murder because of the youth's sexual orientation, prosecutors alleged yesteday.

Shehada Khalil Issa, 69, was arrested on Wednesday after police arrived at his North Hills home to find the bodies of his son Amir, 29, and his wife, who has not been named, dead.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office claimed that 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 victim's association with a person and a group of that status," prosecutors alleged.

Police arrived at his North Hills home to find the bodies of his son Amir, 29, (pictured) and his wife, who has not been named, dead. Photo / Supplied

They said that Issa, who has been charged with one count of premeditated murder, used a shotgun in the attack.

Issa is being held without bail and his arraignment is scheduled for April 11; if convicted he may face life in jail.

Last month Amir ranted about his family on Facebook, writing: "Every day I wake up feeling like my sister or brother or mother or father is literally controlling me in my sleep. I have no free will. The moment I lose consciousness it feels like they tell people to rape and molest me and make it seem like I enjoy that.

"I was earning over $100k by age 26 and this has negatively impacted my life; made me live in pain and become unemployed. If there is a devil or evil spirit, I truly believe it manifests itself in my family. My name is Prince Christ.

He added: "Does it make you feel better about yourself to call me names and control me? I don't want to be related to any of these people ... nor their relatives watching and advocating this inhumane treatment. They have literally robbed my bank account, lied to courts and doctor to try and label me as mentally ill and failed in their attempts to have me falsely imprisoned and evicted.

"My doctors certified that I have no mental illness and the courts have cleared my good name and I do not have a criminal record. I successfully passed a background check. If there are any good people on this earth, please help free me from this inhumane slavery."

He spoke about religion and said he had changed his life insurance and work retirement investments to go to "the church I was born in, the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Glendale".

Before Christmas Amir posted an expletive-filled video to his Facebook in which he had a heated debate with two people he identifies as his parents about their sex life.

At one point the man, thought to be his father, calls him a pervert and says he should be castrated.

The investigation is ongoing and prosecutors did not give details about the death of Amir's mother, The LA Times wrote. However, early reports on the attack by The Daily News quote police as saying that she had been stabbed to death.

According to that article, Issa told police that he had found his wife's body, then encountered his son who threatened him with a knife. "A shooting then took place," it claimed.

But Operations-Valley Bureau Homicide Detective John Doerbecker, quoted in the article, denied that account.

"The suspect made incriminating statements implicating himself in the death of [the son] and was arrested for murder," he told the paper.

"He claimed [the son] was armed with a knife, and there was no knife to be found [there]. It was a horrible family tragedy."

A report by the Daily News on Friday quoted neighbour Maria Gomez as saying she'd heard Issa and his son frequently shouting at one another in recent months.

"It's very difficult to think that something like this can happen in a moment," she said.

- Daily Mail