Ex-wife of slain Woodland Hills doctor charged with murder in targeted hit
The ex-wife of a slain Woodland Hills doctor who was killed in what police describe as an ambush-style attack has been charged with murder, prosecutors announced.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office has charged Ahang Mirshojae, 53, with the murder of her ex-husband, Dr. Hamid Mirshojae, with special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and murder for financial gain.
"She has been charged with, effectively hiring a hit man, a gentleman named Evan Hardman, who has been previously charged with murder and assault with a deadly weapon," District Attorney Nathan Hochman said during a Monday afternoon news conference. "The depth of the deceit and violence involved in this case is chilling, and we will not rest until justice is served."
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said it's been an ongoing and relentless effort by the department to follow the facts and apprehend those responsible.
"For the last four months the LAPD, alongside our partner agencies, has worked tirelessly to bring those responsible for this ambush-style murder to justice," he said.
Ahang Mirshojae is expected to appear in court on Tuesday. Her co-defendant Sarallah Jawed, 26, who is also charged with murder, appeared in front of a judge on Friday.
The DA's office has charged four people in connection to Dr. Mirshojae's death. The doctor was gunned down in the parking lot of his medical clinic along Topanga Canyon on the evening of Aug. 23, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The alleged shooter, Hardman, had been hiding around a corner of the clinic waiting for Mirshojae to leave when he opened fire multiple times, police said.
Also expected to appear in court Monday is Ashley Rose Sweeting, 40, who is charged as an accessory after the fact. Authorities believe she drove Hardman to and from the scene of the deadly shooting. She pleaded not guilty at a court hearing Thursday, along with an allegation that she has one or more prior serious or violent felony convictions.
The fourth defendant, 41-year-old Evan Hardman is awaiting extradition in Houston after he was arrested on Tuesday.
Police arrested a fifth suspect, Shawn Randolph, 46, from Valley Village. Prosecutors have declined to immediately file charges against Randolph and are waiting for further police investigation.
Ahang was divorced from the physician in 2010, public records show.
Jawed and Hardman have been charged with murder and assault with a deadly weapon, according to prosecutors. Jawed and Hardman are each facing a special-circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain. It also was alleged that Hardman intentionally killed the victim by means of lying in wait.
Jawed is accused of assaulting the doctor in May months before the deadly shooting, according to prosecutors. Ahang Mirshojae is accused of hiring Hardman and Jawed to commit that crime as well.
They also allege Jawed facilitated the killing and drove Hardman out of state a few days later.
Deputy District Attorney Ben Schwartz told Superior Court Judge Susan J. De Witt that Sweeting allegedly drove the shooter to and from the crime scene in a "situation that appeared to be a murder for hire."
Authorities have yet to figure out how all the individuals arrested in the investigation know each other.
