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A man has been charged with murder in the death of actor James Handy, who was found stabbed outside his girlfriend’s Los Angeles home this week, the district attorney’s office said Friday.
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The suspect in the killing, Michael Gledhill, 44, is the son of Handy’s girlfriend.
Gledhill is charged with one count of murder with a special allegation that he used a deadly weapon, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said. If convicted, he faces up to 26 years in prison.
“This is not how anyone’s life should end, stabbed in the chest and left dying in the front yard of a home,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement.
Handy, 81, who appeared in many film and TV roles, including as bartender Jimmy in “Top Gun: Maverick,” was found stabbed in the Tarzana neighborhood by police Wednesday morning, officials said.
Police have said they responded to the home where Gledhill and his mother lived after a 911 caller told dispatchers, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.”
Gledhill flagged down officers, “telling them he was the one they were looking for,” police said.
Court records listed an unnamed deputy public defender as representing Gledhill and listed an arraignment and plea Friday morning, but did not specify a plea. Defendants typically plead not guilty at an arraignment.
He was being held in lieu of $2 million bail Friday afternoon, according to jail records.
The special allegation of using a deadly weapon allows for a greater sentence if convicted.
Gledhill’s mother, Wendy Gledhill, said earlier Friday that the family had not yet obtained legal representation.
She said she was overwhelmed following the tragedy.
“I loved James, this should have never happened to him. I’m sorry to his family and his friends,” she said in a statement.
Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.
Andrew Blankstein is an investigative reporter for NBC News. He covers the Western U.S., specializing in crime, courts and homeland security.
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