HORRIBLE

Dad Who Drove Autistic Sons Off L.A. Pier Charged With Murder

Prosecutors alleged he killed his young sons in order to collect insurance payments.

A California father has been charged with the 2015 murder of his two autistic sons after he allegedly intentionally drove his car off a pier in the Port of Los Angeles, prosecutors announced on Wednesday. Ali Elmezayen, 45, was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder four years after he drove his car off a commercial fishing dock in the San Pedro Bay with his sons and domestic partner inside, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release. Prosecutors allege Elmezayen escaped the car through his open window during the April 9, 2015, incident, but his sons drowned. His domestic partner, Rabab Diab, survived after a nearby fisherman threw her a life preserver. Elmezayen is currently in federal custody on insurance fraud charges after he allegedly schemed to collect proceeds from life insurance policies he bought on behalf of his sons, 13-year-old Elhassan and 8-year-old Abdelkrim, and his partner. If convicted as charged, Elmezayen faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parol.