Man accused of shooting son ‘because he was gay’

A Los Angeles man charged with fatally shooting his 29-year-old son for being gay had repeatedly threatened to kill him over his sexual orientation, prosecutors say.

Amir Issa, 29, was found shot to death outside the family home on Tuesday.

While the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged father Shehada Issa, 69, on Friday with murder as a hate crime in the son’s death, investigators on Saturday were still trying to determine responsibility for a second killing at the home discovered by police at the same time, that of Amir’s mother, police spokesman Officer Mike Lopez said.

The mother, 68-year-old Rabihah Issa, had been stabbed repeatedly, coroner’s Lt. David Smith said.

Shehada Issa told police he shot his son Amir in self-defence after he discovered his wife’s body in their house.

Prosecutors gave a different motive, however. “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,” a statement said.

They did not elaborate.

Police did not provide details on any of the alleged threats the father had made against his gay son.