Arraignment postponed for North Hills father who allegedly killed son

In this Tuesday, March 29, 2016 photo, vehicles are parked near the scene where a man was found shot to death and a woman fatally stabbed, in North Hills. (David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News via AP)

Flowers and votive candles were seen Sunday in front of the North Hills home where an elderly mother was found stabbed inside Tuesday and her son was found shot dead outside. (Photo by Brenda Gazzar)

SAN FERNANDO >> An arraignment for the North Hills man accused of fatally shooting his son outside their home last month was continued Monday at the San Fernando Courthouse until May 17.
Shehada Issa, 69, was charged earlier this month with the murder of his 38-year-old son Amier Issa. The elder Issa’s wife, Rabihah Issa, 68, was also found dead with numerous stab wounds in the bathroom of the home, according to Los Angeles police. No one has been charged with her murder.
Public Defender C. Edward Mack, who stood in for Issa’s assigned public defender, Andrea Gilliam, asked that the arraignment and plea be postponed. He said Gilliam tried to get a personal visit with her client “but was not allowed by sheriff’s [officials].” The arraignment will now take place at 8:30 a.m. May 17 at the San Fernando Courthouse in Department S.
Issa was dressed in a blue jail-issued outfit and calmly answered questions that the judge asked him from behind a barrier.
The case has attracted national headlines because prosecutors also charged Issa with a hate crime, alleging that he killed his son because he is gay and had threatened to kill him on prior occasions for that same reason. However, Los Angeles police detectives have said they don’t believe that was the primary factor in the man’s killing.
Valley Homicide Bureau Detective Rich Wheeler said authorities now believe the father may have killed the son to cover up his wife’s murder.
“We have a couple of theories — that’s the one we’re running with right now,” Wheeler told the Daily News last week. Issa told police that his son had killed his mother, he said, and that’s another theory that’s being explored.
“We’re exploring all possibilities,” Wheeler added.
The elder Issa’s name is listed in court documents as Shehada Issa however police gave his name as Shehadeh Issa. Similarly, coroner’s officials gave his son’s name as Amier Issa but the District Attorney’s office has identified him as Amir Issa.