The ex-wife of a prominent Los Angeles doctor who was shot and killed in an ambush outside his clinic in August has been arrested and charged with murder during a police search of his home.
Ahan Mirshoce (née Kerk) was among five people arrested earlier this week for conspiring to kill Dr. Hamid Mirshoce, Los Angeles police announced.
A motive for the alleged murder has not been revealed, and police have not released details of their alleged roles in Dr. Mirshoje's death.
Dr. Mirshoje, 61, was fatally shot in the back of the head by a “masked man” in the parking lot of his family practice in the 5900 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. August 23, 2024 in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Dr. Mirshoje's patients include “celebrities, movie stars, athletes, and many people from different walks of life,” and he had just finished work at about 5:34 p.m. when the gunman came from a hiding place. He appeared and ran towards the Iranian-born doctor.
After the fatal shooting, the gunman ran to the back of the Woodland Hills Medical Clinic and emergency room as police responded to an “ambulance shooting” call 42 minutes later.
Mirshoje was pronounced dead at the scene.
After a nearly four-month investigation, law enforcement officials announced the arrests of Kelk and four others.
Ms Kelk, 53, mourned her ex-husband's death in a since-deleted Facebook post.
“Mr. Hamid, the children and I are in shock and we will miss you very much,” she said. “On August 23rd at 5:30 p.m., they took Hamid away from us right in front of his practice. For decades, he has always helped people who see tens of thousands of patients. We were fighting hard to start life from scratch in our apartment, but the world is still so cold.”
The now suspected killer said her family had to “stand strong against evil” in memory of Mirshoje.
The former couple had three adult children.
Hours before her arrest, LAPD and federal agents raided Kelk's home in Calabasas on Thursday evening. According to KTTV.
It was not disclosed whether anything was found during the search.
In August, Kelk denied any involvement in her ex-husband's death.
“It's all a lie,” she said. Los Angeles Times.
After separating from his ex-wife, Dr. Mirshoje remarried in 2023, and the newlyweds had a six-month-old daughter at the time of his death.
His new wife and daughter were visiting family in Turkey at the time of the shooting, but they flew back to the United States after learning the heartbreaking news.
suspect
In addition to Ahan Mirshoje's arrest on Thursday, police also arrested and charged four other people with the August 23 murder.
Evan Hardman, 41, was arrested in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area on December 10th, charged with special circumstances murder, and will be transported to the LAPD Detention Center.
Ashley Rose Sweeting, 40, was arrested Tuesday in the San Fernando Valley on suspicion of aiding and abetting murder.
Sarala Joad, 26, was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with special circumstances murder.
Sean Randolph, 46, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder.
Hardman and Joad were also charged in May with attacking Dr. Mirshoje with a baseball bat, FOX 11 reported.
The two were each assaulted with deadly weapons during the May 3 attack, and Mirshoje feared for his life.
“They came and hit him with a baseball bat,” the employee said. Los Angeles Times at that time. “They were strangers we didn’t know.”
Mr. Kelk and Mr. Randolph are being held without bail, and their cases are scheduled to be presented to the LA State Attorney's Office for review on December 16th.
The investigation is ongoing, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
