A 69-year-old North Hills man suspected of killing his son outside a house where the man’s wife was found stabbed to death, was charged Friday with murder, and with a hate crime allegation that he killed his son because he was gay.

Shehada Issa, 69, was charged in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday with willful, deliberate and premeditated murder in the death of his 29-year-old gay son, Amir Issa, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Issa, who is being held without bail, faces life in prison without parole if he is convicted.

According to prosecutors, police found Shehada’s son Amir Issa shot dead outside of the family’s house in North Hills, California, on March 29. Shehada Issa had threatened to kill his son on prior occasions because he was gay, they said.

The body of Amir’s mother was found inside the house, but the investigation into her death is ongoing, according to the district attorney.

The suspect had allegedly told police that on Tuesday he found his dead wife in the bathroom of their home at 15062 Rayen St.

He said he then heard noises, armed himself with a gun and encountered his 29-year-old son Amir outside, who he claimed threatened him with a knife, police said. A shooting then took place.

“The suspect made incriminating statements implicating himself in the death of (the son) and was arrested for murder,” Operations Valley Bureau homicide Detective John Doerbecker said. 

“He claimed (the son) was armed with a knife, and there was no knife to be found (there).”

North Hills is a community of 57,000 people about 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Los Angeles.