A 59-year-old man was charged Tuesday with fatally shooting another man at an Anaheim motel.
Amir Karkehabadi of Anaheim was charged with murder with a sentencing enhancement for the discharge of a gun causing death.
He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana and was next due in court for a pretrial hearing in the North Justice Center in Fullerton on June 26.
Karkehabadi was accused of killing 66-year-old Steven Hawkins on Saturday, according to the criminal complaint.
Police were called to the Villa Inn, 733 S. Beach Blvd. at 6:12 p.m. Saturday regarding the shooting, Anaheim police Sgt. Matt Sutter said. The victim, who was shot once, was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead an hour later, Sutter said.
Police did not release the connection between the defendant and the victim.
Karkehabadi was charged with a racially motivated attack on a man and woman in Stanton Jan. 13, 2023, according to court records.
He was accused of hitting and shoving a woman in a park, and when the man confronted him, Karkehabadi called him racial slurs and threatened to “stomp his face,” according to court records.
When the woman asked him why he struck her, he said, “Because you bumped into me,” according to court records.
Issues were raised by defense attorneys regarding his mental health, but his attempts to have his case diverted failed, according to court records.
Defense attorneys were successful in having the charges dismissed May 16 of last year.