Crime & Safety

Update: Hearing Begins Today in Freeway Murder Case

Aram Sarukhanyan faces murder charges in connection with his cousin, whose body was found along the westbound Foothill (210) Freeway in April.

Update: The preliminary hearing for Aram Sarukhanyan, a Tujunga man who was , will begin Wednesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court in downtown L.A.

Previously: The suspect was in a Pasadena Superior courtroom to determine his preliminary hearing, which was postponed and often happens, according to Jane Robison of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

According to a complaint filed against Sarukhanyan, 27, the Los Angeles County District Attorney alleges that the suspect fired a gun at his cousin, 33-year-old Adrine Arzumnyan, killing her.

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Arzumnyan's body was found dumped near the La Crescenta Avenue off-ramp along the westbound Foothill (210) Freeway on April 29. He allegedly pointed a handgun at a driver who tried to stop him immediately after he pushed his cousin's body out of the vehicle, the district attorney said in a news release. 

The Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed that Arzumnyan died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Find out what's happening in Montrose-La Crescentawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sarukhanyan was found alongside the southbound Glendale (2) Freeway near Mountain Street and had sustained self-inflicted gunshot wounds in an apparent suicide attempt, said sheriff's homicide detective Lt. Michael Rosson of the . He was hospitalized at Huntington Memorial Hospital and released on May 10. 

He is charged with one count each of murder and brandishing a firearm at a person in a motor vehicle, authorities said. Sarukhanyan could face more than 50 years to life in prison. 

Rosson confirmed that Sarukhanyan is not married, and that he had a gun registered in his name. 


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