South Pasadena man accused of killing his 5-year-old son won’t fight extradition from Nevada
A South Pasadena man charged with killing his 5-year-old son appeared in a Las Vegas courtroom Tuesday and waived his right to fight extradition and attempted to joke with a judge about his return to California, news footage showed.
Aramazd Andressian Sr., who was arrested in Las Vegas last week, appeared shackled in a courtroom packed with reporters. He smiled broadly as the judge questioned him.
“You just want to go and voluntarily go back to California? You don’t want to fight this?” Judge Eric Goodman asked Andressian.
“No, I never came here in an intent to flee, so absolutely not,” he replied.
Andressian was arrested Friday. He had been in Las Vegas on and off since his son’s disappearance more than two months ago. Authorities said Andressian was “socializing” in the city.
“His mannerisms were not consistent with a grieving parent,” Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Joe Mendoza said.
Aramazd Andressian Jr. was last seen April 21 at about 1 a.m. as he was leaving Disneyland with his father, aunt and grandmother.
The next day, when the boy was supposed to be returned to his mother in San Marino, the father was found unconscious in a South Pasadena park, his gray BMW doused in gasoline. Andressian had taken prescription pills, in an effort, authorities believe, to kill himself.
Andressian was initially detained but released due to lack of evidence.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed a murder charge against the father last week. Despite extensive searches for the boy, he has not been found.
Detectives believe Andressian, 35, killed his son because of tumultuous divorce proceedings with his estranged wife, authorities said.
Sheriff’s investigators said they noticed troubling developments regarding the boy’s father. Andressian had lightened his hair, shaved off his beard and begun making plans to travel to a country where he could avoid extradition back to the United States, authorities said.
Goodman, the Nevada judge, told Andressian on Tuesday that California authorities would have 30 days to bring him back from Nevada.
“Obviously, given the media, they’re going to come pick you up,” Goodman said.
Andressian laughed and joked about the reporters in the room.
“They’ll probably take me with them,” he said.
Twitter: @haileybranson
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