The man and woman arrested on suspicion of killing a popular Woodland Hills doctor have long criminal histories in Los Angeles County, including threats and harassment allegations leading to requests for restraining orders against them, court records show.
Evan Hardman, 41, of Tomball, Texas and Ashley Rose Sweeting, 40, of Reseda, were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of killing 61-year-old Dr. Hamid Mirshojae as he walked to his car from his medical practice in Woodland Hills on Aug. 23.
Police did not identify who they believe to be the shooter who ambushed Mirshojae just before 5:40 p.m., shot him in the right side of his head, and then ran to an awaiting car. They also did not offer any details as to how Hardman and Sweeting were identified as suspects, or what their relationship is to each other or the doctor.
Hardman was arrested in the greater Houston area by the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, police said. Sweeting was arrested in the San Fernando Valley.
Police have not disclosed a potential motive for the killing.
Court records show both Hardman and Sweeting have lengthy criminal pasts. Sweeting had more than a dozen criminal cases dating back to 2002 and was the subject of a pair of restraining order requests in 2022 and 2023. Hardman had two open criminal cases and a restraining order request in 2023, the records show, as well as multiple robbery convictions.
Sweeting was convicted of petty theft in 2002 and records show a pattern of convictions that escalated in nature, including burglary, shoplifting, grand theft and a pair of battery convictions. In 2023, she was charged with carjacking, taking a vehicle without consent and assault with a deadly weapon, records show, and was placed in a diversion program, but failed to appear and a bench warrant was issued in July 2023. Her last hearing in that case showed she was back in the program as of Sept. 12.
Sweeting, frustrated by how the criminal history was affecting her ability to find work, took to Facebook in November 2018.
“I WANT A FREAKING JOB…” she posted. “Having a record gets me judged …That’s not who I am anymore, and I’ve learned the hard way when it comes to the decisions I’d made. So do me a favor, and judge me based on my abilities, my work ethic, and my resume.”
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But two women since filed for restraining orders against her.
In 2022, a woman accused Sweeting of punching her in the head, kicking her in the chest and attempting to run her over. The woman also said in court papers Sweeting vandalized her car.
Then in 2023, another woman filed for a restraining order after she claimed Sweeting took her vehicle without consent and hit her with the vehicle.
“Ashley stole my keys from my purse and took my car after I expressly told her the night before she couldn’t use my car,” the woman wrote in court papers. “I also kicked her out of my house that same evening. She backed into me and I fell and she drove off.
“She also threatened my life by saying I don’t know what is coming to me,” the woman wrote, adding that she injured her foot and elbow and hit her head on the ground.
The report, which indicated Sweeting was in custody, was filed the same day the LA County District Attorney’s Office filed charges of carjacking, taking a vehicle without consent and assault with a deadly weapon, records show.
Later in 2023, a woman who shares a child with Hardman filed for a restraining order against him claiming that he had threatened her life after she filed a missing person’s report when her daughter went missing, but later discovered the daughter was with Hardman.
The woman reported Hardman to the police, and after the police contacted him, he sent her a disturbing message, court documents show.
“He threatened my life by saying, ‘You’ll be dead by the end of the day,’” the woman wrote in court papers.
Of the open cases against Hardman, he faces one count of threatening to commit a crime stemming from a January conflict. He also faces counts of battery with serious bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon from July 2023, court records show.
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