California Father Aramazd Andressian Pleads Guilty To 5-Year-Old Son’s Murder

A California father pleaded guilty Tuesday to the murder of his 5-year-old son. Aramazd Andressian Sr., 35, had previously pleaded not guilty but entered the new plea in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Alhambra, California.

Five-year-old Aramazd Andressian Jr. vanished in April after his father took him to Disneyland. His mother reported him missing after Andressian Sr. did not drop him off for a scheduled visit. He was seen for the last time leaving the theme park with his father. Andressian Sr. was found the very next day at a park in South Pasadena unconscious inside a gasoline-doused car with a bottle of prescription pills beside him.

Read: Who Is Aramazd Andressian Sr? California Father Arrested In Son’s Murder

The young boy was missing for more than two months before authorities finally located his body near a lake in Santa Barbara. Authorities declined to say how he died.

Andressian Sr. was originally arrested on suspicion of child abduction and endangerment but was released on a lack of evidence shortly thereafter. He was later re-arrested and pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Ambrosio Rodriguez, said at the time that there had been a “rush to judgment.”

Police, however, said Andressian Sr. was not acting like a father who had lost his son. Authorities said he had been living in a Las Vegas hotel for 47 days after his son went missing, had lightened his hair and shaved his beard and was “socializing.” Andressian Sr. also reportedly gave police conflicting accounts of how and where he lost his son.

“He was taking part in activities and displaying mannerisms that were not consistent with a grieving parent,” Sheriff’s Homicide Lieutenant Joe Mendoza said at the time.

Officials noted that Andressian Sr. and his wife had a chaotic relationship and were going through a tumultuous divorce. Authorities said they believed he killed his son as a form of revenge against his wife, according to KABC.

Andressian Sr. was being held on $10 million bail and was expected to face 25 years to life in prison.