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Photo Credit: Pool/Al Seib/Los Angeles Times
The father from South Pasadena charged with killing his 5-year-old son after a visit to Disneyland has pleaded guilty to murder.
Aramazd Andressian, Sr. changed his plea from not guilty during a hearing in L.A. Superior Court in Alhambra Tuesday morning.
"How do you plead, sir?," asked L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum.
"Guilty," Andressian replied quietly.
The boy's mother was seated a few feet away.
She held a white urn with her son's ashes and held hands with family members and sobbed.
One man seated with the family whispered, "son of a bitch," as Andressian entered the plea.
The father was charged with the premeditated murder of his son, Aramazd "Piqui" Andressian, Jr.
Detectives said they believe the murder happened in the early morning hours of April 21, and said Andressian then left his son's body near Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County.
Andressian, Sr. was found unconscious in a park in South Pasadena the next morning.
He claimed he didn't know what happened to his son, who allegedly disappeared just before the boy was to be returned to his mother after a court ordered visitation.
Andressian' defense lawyer said his client intended to plead guilty as soon as the criminal case was filed.
"There's no [plea] bargain here," said attorney Ambrosio Rodriguez.
"My client wanted to plead guilty and take responsibility for what he did," Rodriguez told reporters outside court.
"He acted alone," he added, but declined to offer any details of how or why Andressian murdered the boy. "This was not planned."
The criminal complaint alleged the killing was premeditated, and L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum said had the case gone to trial, he would have proved Andressian planned the murder.
"It's our position the evidence supports the fact that it was planned, it was premeditated, it was deliberate," Hum said.
"He had this in mind before he actually committed the murder," he said.
Sentencing was set for August 23 when Andressian will be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.