The ex-wife of a doctor who was shot outside his Woodland Hills clinic in what prosecutors allege was a murder-for-hire plot pleaded not guilty Monday, along with an alleged co-conspirator in the killing.
Ahang Mirshojae, 53, of Calabasas, is charged with murder, as are Evan Hardman, 41, of Tomball, Texas; and Sarallah Jawed, 26, of Canoga Park, in connection with the Aug. 23 slaying of Mirshojae’s former husband, Dr. Hamid Mirshojae, 61.
Ahang Mirshojae and Jawed both pleaded not guilty to the murder charge Monday morning and were ordered to return to court March 17, when a date will be set for a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for them to stand trial.
The murder charge against Mirshojae includes the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and murder for financial gain in connection with the slaying of her ex-husband, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Authorities said the victim was ambushed Aug. 23 as he walked to his vehicle in the parking lot outside his clinic in the 5900 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, near Warner Center Park. According to police, when the victim approached the driver’s side of his vehicle, a “masked man emerged from hiding around the corner of the clinic and ran toward him. From a close distance, the suspect fired at Dr. Mirshojae in an ambush-style attack and then immediately fled back toward the rear of the clinic away from the scene.”
The ex-wife of a Woodland Hills doctor who was gunned down claimed her innocence during her first court appearance. Eric Leonard reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024.
Mirshojae also faces a felony count of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with an alleged baseball bat attack May 3 on her former husband. Hardman and Jawed are also charged in connection with the May 3 baseball bat attack.
The murder charge against Jawed includes the special circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain.
Hardman, the alleged gunman, was a no-show in court Monday, so his arraignment was reset for Tuesday.
The murder charge against Hardman includes the special circumstance allegations of murder for financial gain and murder by means of lying in wait, along with allegations that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm and that he has a string of robbery convictions in Los Angeles County dating back to 2002, according to the complaint. Prosecutors on Monday added a new charge against him of being a felon in possession of a handgun.
All three remain jailed without bail.
Deputy District Attorney Ben Schwartz described the murder in court Monday as an assassination. The prosecutor alleged that Hardman confessed to police when he was arrested in Texas and told officers that Ahang Mirshojae paid him thousands of dollars to murder her ex-husband.
Ahang Mirshojae was arrested Dec. 12, with Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman subsequently alleging that the woman hired a hit man — Hardman — to kill the victim for unspecified financial gain.
Donald Marks, Ahang Mirshojae’s attorney, said his client had no expectation of financial gain.
“She had nothing to gain,” Marks told the court, adding that the victim’s will left everything to a trust involving the ex-couple’s three children. “She will get nothing from the proceeds of the trust.”
Jawed, who was arrested Dec. 11 by the Los Angeles Police Department’s fugitive unit, allegedly drove Hardman out of state a few days after the killing, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
A fourth defendant, Ashley Rose Sweeting, 40, of Reseda, pleaded not guilty Dec. 12 to one count of being an accessory after the fact, along with an allegation that she has one or more prior serious or violent felony convictions. Sweeting — who is accused of driving Hardman to and from the scene of the shooting — remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.
She is due back in a Los Angeles courtroom Feb. 5, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to allow the case against her to proceed to trial.
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