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Man Allegedly Murdered Mom And 90-Year-Old Pastor Grandfather When They Visited
Rahmad Kerel Parke is accused of killing his own mother, Melba Abdelaziz, as well as his elderly grandfather, Mel Abdelaziz, when they paid him a visit.
A California man has been arrested and charged with murder after investigators say he killed both his mother and elderly grandfather — a pastor — when they came to visit him.
Officials arrested Rahmad Kerel Parke, 25, on Saturday and charged with the Jan. 6 murders of his 90-year-old grandfather Mel Abdelaziz and his 58-year-old mother Melba Abdelaziz, according to a press release from the Fresno County Sheriff's Office
Deputies had been called to the Fresno home where Parke lived for a report of an injured person, only to find Mel “deceased in the front yard” and Melba dead “inside the home,” according to the press release.
Investigators tried to locate Parke for days, and eventually narrowed down their search to Sherman Oaks in Southern California. The Los Angeles Police Department managed to arrest him on Saturday after he was spotted in the area. The sighting came after a Friday press conference in which “victims pleaded for Parke to turn himself in.” He was booked into the Los Angeles County Jail before being charged with two counts of murder.
The two victims had begun living together in early 2021 “after Mel, a man who had served 70 years as a church pastor, suffered a stroke,” law enforcement states. “Melba moved to Fresno from Los Angeles County to help her sister provide medical care for their father.”
Both victims were attacked when they visited the home where Parke was staying, according to investigators.
Parke is being held on a $2 million bail. It’s not clear if he has a lawyer.
It is not year clear how his mother and grandfather were killed or why.
"She has always been kind, loving, happy, sweet, her heart is bigger than anything I have ever known," Ahmonda Parke, daughter of Melba told local outlet KGPE. "She got that from her dad."
She said her mother would give anything to someone in need and even once forked over a brand-new car to someone less fortunate.
Melba’s sister and Mel’s daughter, Gloria Sayles, told the outlet that both victims were "very powerful wonderful people."
