A mistrial was declared Tuesday when jurors failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a 59-year-old man charged with fatally shooting a neighbor at an Anaheim motel.
Amir Karkehabadi of Anaheim was charged with murder with a sentencing enhancement for the discharge of a gun causing death. Jurors acquitted him of first-degree murder and were deadlocked 11-1 for acquittal on second-degree murder.
Jurors told attorneys after the mistrial they were split on voluntary manslaughter as well.
A pretrial hearing was scheduled for Jan. 9 with a retrial scheduled in February. Prosecutors can no longer try the defendant for first-degree murder, but Karkehabadi still faces second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter charges.
Karkehabadi is accused of killing 56-year-old Steven Hawkins on June 14, according to the criminal complaint.
Police were called to the Villa Inn, 733 S. Beach Blvd., between Orange Avenue and Ball Road, at 6:12 p.m. that day regarding the shooting, Anaheim Police Department Sgt. Matt Sutter said. Hawkins, who was shot once, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead an hour later, Sutter said.
The two were living next door to each other at the motel and had run-ins prior to the shooting.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney argued it was first-degree murder because Karkehabadi shot Hawkins in the back as he was running away. Defense attorney Lee Stonum argued it was a case of self-defense because Hawkins frightened and harassed the defendant.
Karkehabadi had called Hawkins’ girlfriend a “whore,” prompting Hawkins to kick the defendant’s door, Birney argued in the trial. The defendant brandished a gun and then shot Hawkins, Birney said.
The defendant had also allegedly called Hawkins a “black monkey” and “banana eater,” Birney argued.
Hawkins denied making the slurs to the defendant, Stonum said in a trial brief.
Karkehabadi had lived at the motel for about six years. Hawkins called a motel manager to complain about the alleged slurs and they were asking the defendant to come out of his room before the shooting, Stonum said.
Karkehabadi was too frightened to answer the door, and at one point Hawkins “donkey kicks” the door, Stonum said. The motel manager told him to stop, but Hawkins did it again, cracking the door frame, Stonum said.
Karkehabadi armed himself as Hawkins paced the landing “ranting and raving in a furor,” Stonum said.
When Karkehabadi slightly opened the door to talk to the motel manager, Hawkins “rushed” the defendant, prompting him to fire three times, Stonum said.
Hawkins “had been harassing Karkehabadi in the days prior, banging on his door and their adjoining wall,” Stonum said.
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, 2024.