Tracking this week’s significant cases in Los Angeles County Superior Court
Encino hospital patient stabs his doctor and two nurses
A pretrial hearing was held Tuesday for a Van Nuys man whose 2022 hospital visit turned violent when he allegedly stabbed his doctor and two nurses.
Ashkan Amirsoleymani, 35 at the time, walked into Encino Hospital Medical Center on June 3, 2022, seeking treatment for anxiety. According to the Los Angeles Times, he suddenly stabbed his attending doctor and two nurses before fleeing the room, then barricaded himself inside a hospital room for more than four hours before a SWAT team forced him out.
The Times reported that hospital workers managed to trap him in a storage room by holding the door closed until SWAT arrived.
The criminal complaint, according to City News Service, includes allegations that Amirsoleymani used a knife and had five prior convictions dating back to 2008, including assault by means likely to cause great bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon.
CBS Los Angeles reported that two of the three victims were treated and released the same night, while the third required surgery but was listed in stable condition.
Amirsoleymani faces three counts of attempted murder. The pretrial hearing was held in Van Nuys Superior Court. Deputy District Attorney Inga Orbeli of the Van Nuys Branch Office is prosecuting.
Son charged with stabbing death of his celebrated war photographer father
A preliminary hearing moved forward Tuesday in West Covina Superior Court in the 2024 killing of a renowned British photojournalist whose son is accused of stabbing him to death on a remote San Gabriel Mountains trail.
Emir Abadzic Lowe, 19 at the time of the alleged killing, is accused of using a knife to stab his father — whose legal name was Christian Lowe, known professionally as Paul Lowe — to death on October 12, 2024, on Mount Baldy Road near Stoddard Canyon Falls.
According to KTLA, sheriff’s deputies found the victim suffering from a stab wound to his neck and pronounced him dead at the scene. The station reported that witnesses saw a man driving away from the scene, who was subsequently involved in a solo traffic accident a few miles away and was detained. Investigators later confirmed the suspect was the victim’s son.
LA Magazine reported that Paul Lowe was a well-known war photographer and educator who documented conflict zones worldwide and later taught at the VII Foundation, which trains journalists from underrepresented communities. The VII Foundation called him “a courageous and beloved comrade, and a deeply devoted father and husband.”
Lowe faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life plus one year in state prison if convicted. Deputy District Attorney Samantha Gomez of the West Covina Area Office is prosecuting.
West Covina man beat his grandparents on New Year’s Day, killing his grandmother
A Section 1368 competency hearing was held this week for a West Covina man charged with beating his elderly grandparents on New Year’s Day 2026 — killing his grandmother and seriously injuring his grandfather.
Joshua Philip Day, 28, is charged with one count of murder and one felony count of elder or dependent adult abuse with great bodily injury.
According to MyNewsLA, on January 1 at approximately 12:30 p.m., Day allegedly repeatedly punched his grandparents — Priscilla Sesanto, 74, and Philip Sesanto, 77 — at the West Covina home the three shared, following an argument.
The outlet reported that when authorities arrived, Day refused to cooperate and remained barricaded inside the house. A SWAT team was called and after a four-hour standoff he was taken into custody.
KTLA reported that Priscilla Sesanto went into a coma and died the following day, while Philip Sesanto survived his injuries. The couple had been married more than 50 years.
A competency hearing signals that Day’s fitness to stand trial remains an open legal question.
“Priscilla Sesanto lost her life in a senseless and violent crime at the hands of her grandson,” DA Nathan Hochman said when charges were announced.
Day faces up to 25 years to life plus nine years in state prison if convicted. Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Chavez of the Elder Abuse Division is prosecuting.
Lancaster father charged with beating, stabbing his two young daughters to death
A competency hearing was held this week for a Lancaster father charged with one of the most savage crimes on the county docket — the 2023 beating and stabbing deaths of his two young daughters.
Prospero Guadalupe Serna, 38 at the time, allegedly attacked three of his children late on the night of October 28, 2023, at the family’s apartment in the 1800 block of East Avenue J-2 in Lancaster while his four children and their mother were home.
According to ABC7, the children’s mother called 911, saying her children were being harmed. When deputies arrived, they found several children suffering from lacerations. Fox 11 reported that the victims were his daughters — seven-year-old Ziasia and three-year-old Najila Serna — who died at the hospital. Two other children were found hiding in the residence, one of whom was also injured.
NBC Los Angeles reported that the criminal complaint includes a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with allegations that Serna personally used a sharp object and has a prior conviction from 2017 for unlawfully causing a fire.
ABC7 reported that a neighbor told the station she had heard the mother screaming for help two nights before the killings. Serna was tackled and detained by deputies a few blocks from the apartment.
The competency hearing suggests the case may not reach trial if Serna is deemed unfit to proceed. He faces life without the possibility of parole plus 25 years if convicted. Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott of the Major Crimes Division is prosecuting.
Pomona man rammed a police car, fled at 100 mph, and killed a pregnant woman and her boyfriend
Arraignment was held Tuesday in Pomona Superior Court for a man charged with three counts of murder after a domestic violence call on April 1 turned into a deadly high-speed pursuit that killed a pregnant woman and her boyfriend weeks before their due date.
Marshall Campbell Judson, 31, of Pomona, allegedly returned to the scene of a domestic violence call on East 10th Street at approximately 10:11 p.m. on April 1, 2026, where Pomona police officers were already on scene speaking with a victim.
According to the LA County District Attorney’s Office, Judson drove aggressively past two patrol cars, reversed directly into one of them, narrowly missing an officer, then fled through residential streets at speeds exceeding 100 mph in a posted 35 mph zone.
KTLA reported that his truck slammed into a silver Ford sedan near the intersection of Garey Avenue and County Road. Both occupants were pronounced dead at the scene. The victims were Jennifer Loera-Zarco, 25, who was nine months pregnant, and her boyfriend Marc Trejo Saldivar, 26. ABC7 reported that video from the scene showed a baby car seat among the debris in the street. Fox 11 reported that Loera-Zarco was just weeks from her due date.
“The senseless death of a young couple just weeks away from the birth of their first child is heartbreaking and enraging,” DA Hochman said. “Now, instead of planning celebrations to welcome a newborn, their families are planning funerals.”
Judson faces 57 years to life in state prison if convicted on all counts. Deputy District Attorney Michelle Weiske of the Pomona Branch Office is prosecuting.
Also on the docket
Christopher L. Butler, the former CEO of The Painted Turtle — the Paul Newman-founded camp for children with serious medical conditions covered in last week’s Court Watch — returned to court this week for a jury trial readiness hearing as his embezzlement case moves toward trial on 15 felony counts.
