Emir Abadzic Lowe, the 19-year-old son of award-winning war photographer Paul Lowe, was charged Tuesday in his father’s murder after the 60-year-old was found stabbed to death on a California hiking trail, authorities confirmed in a press release.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said local deputies responded to the scene at around 3:28 p.m. on Saturday and found the photojournalist with “trauma to his upper torso” on Mount Baldy Road, a scenic area near Stoddard Canyon Falls in the San Gabriel Mountains.
First responders pronounced the native Briton dead at the scene; the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has since determined that he was stabbed in the neck, according to The New York Times.
An initial press release on Saturday noted that a white male was seen “driving away from the scene” before causing “a solo traffic collision” a few miles down the road and was detained “pending further investigation.”
“Based on evidence at the scene, coupled with statements made by the son and witness, the son was arrested and booked for murder at the San Dimas Station,” the sheriff’s department confirmed in an update.
The 19-year-old is set to make his first court appearance Wednesday at the West Covina Courthouse, authorities told People.
Amra Abadzic Lowe, Paul Lowe’s widow, told the Times that their son had been struggling with his mental health this past year and was hospitalized several times for psychosis.
She said her husband had traveled to the U.S. to persuade Emir to return home to the U.K. after the teen had left for a brief trip and stayed for months.
Abadzic Lowe added that she had spoken with her husband mere minutes before the stabbing when he and their son had exited the car to take in the views.
She said Emir had seemed calm at the time, but that mental issues make it difficult to “know what’s happening inside somebody’s brain.”
“We were obviously very nervous about the whole situation,” Abadzic Lowe told the Times.
Paul Lowe’s courageous work encompassed major events around the globe, including the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, Nelson Mandela’s 1990 release from prison, Russia’s invasion of Grozny in Chechnya (1994) and the 1995 siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.
His work has been published in Time, Newsweek, Life and The Sunday Times Magazine.
A scholar of the history and ethics of photography at the London College of Communication at the University of the Arts London, Paul Lowe was also a contributing photographer at the VII Foundation, which paid tribute to his life in an Instagram post on Monday featuring his portrait.
“It is with deep sorrow that we share the news of the passing of our dear friend and colleague Paul Lowe, whose brilliant life was cut short in Los Angeles, California on Saturday,” the foundation wrote. “Paul was a courageous and beloved comrade, and a deeply devoted father and husband.”
“The loss is shocking and overwhelming, and our hearts go out to his wife and family.”
If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health support. Additionally, you can find local mental health and crisis resources at dontcallthepolice.com. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention.