Murder suspect to hear charges Thursday
GLENDALE — A 27-year-old Tujunga man is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on charges that he fatally shot his cousin before dumping her body on the Foothill (210) Freeway last month, officials said.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide detectives arrested Aram Sarukhanyan Tuesday night on suspicion of murder after he was released from Huntington Memorial Hospital, where he had been admitted as result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after the body of his cousin, Adrine Arzumanyan, was discovered on the La Crescenta Avenue offramp.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office had not yet filed charges against Sarukhanyan as of Wednesday afternoon. And sheriff’s department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said detectives had yet to interview Sarukhanyan on Wednesday due to his medical condition.
Sarukhanyan — who was being held in lieu of $1-million bail — is scheduled to be arraigned today in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Pasadena in connection with the April 29 shooting death.
Memorial services for Arzumanyan — who officials said was shot at least once in the upper body before being pushed out from a car onto the westbound offramp — were held Wednesday in Hollywood.
Arzumanyan — a 33-year-old married mother of a 6-month-old son — managed the Sunny Day Adult Day Care Center in Glendale.
She and her husband, Chris, were also working on master’s degrees in social work at Cal State Northridge, said Amy Levin, chairwoman of the university’s Department of Social Work.
“We just were heartbroken and disappointed to hear about her murder,” she said.
Some faculty and students met with a university counselor to talk about their grief, Levin added.
“Everybody is taking it differently,” she said.
Soon after Arzumanyan’s death, Levin said faculty and students who worked closely with the couple established a college fund for their 6-month-old son, Narek.
”We wanted to leave a lasting memory of her and provide for her son,” Levin said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 18 contributors had already donated $940, with one describing Arzumanyan on the fund’s website as “an amazing woman who spent her life helping others.”
FYI
Anyone interested in donating to the Narek’s college fund can visit https://narekscollegefund.chipin.com/nareks-college-fund