A tentative trial schedule has been carved out in May for the man accused in the 2024 shooting death of a College of the Canyons student.
Judge Hilleri Merritt ordered Grigor Hovsepyan, 25, of Granada Hills, back to court May 5 for a pretrial conference, with an eight-day jury trial scheduled to begin May 19, based on the minute order for Department J in the San Fernando Courthouse.
Hovsepyan has pleaded not guilty after he was held to answer in December to a murder charge in the May 2024 shooting death of Gabriel Unzueta.
During Hovsepyan’s preliminary hearing two months ago, the prosecution sought to paint the shooting as a retaliatory murder, according to the court transcripts.
Unzueta was in a car with friends who testified at Hovsepyan’s preliminary hearing in May that they were throwing eggs at cars near the top of Reseda Boulevard when one of those cars came after them.
A Los Angeles Police Department detective testified that four 9mm shells were recovered at the shooting scene. The investigator also testified that Hovsepyan talked about the shooting with a cellmate who, in reality, was an undercover officer.
The delays in the case were associated with an attempt by Hovsepyan to have his case treated in the Mental Health Courts, which was denied last year after a pair of evaluations.
Hovsepyan remains in custody without bail at the North County Correctional Facility.
He stands accused of murder in Unzueta’s death, as well as two counts of attempted murder and several special allegations involving the use of a gun and the violent nature of the crime.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office has indicated prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty in Hovsepyan’s trial, but the defendant could receive life without parole if convicted of the first-degree murder charge.
