The son of a British war photographer has appeared in court charged with his father’s murder.
Paul Lowe, who covered conflicts including the siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war, the fall of the Berlin Wall and Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, was pronounced dead in California on 12 October.
He died from a stab wound to the neck on a popular hiking trail in the San Gabriel Mountains, according to the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s office.
His 19-year-old son Emir Abadzic Lowe has appeared at the West Covina Courthouse in LA, charged with one count of murder.
It is alleged he was seen driving away from the scene on Mount Baldy Road near Stoddard Canyon Falls, and was “subsequently involved in a solo traffic collision a few miles away” before his arrest, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
The teen is next due to appear in court on 9 December. A judge set his bail at $2.02m (£1.6m).
George Gascon, LA district attorney, said he will pursue justice for the victim and “ensure the offender is held accountable for his actions”.
A ‘courageous and beloved comrade’
Mr Lowe was a professor at the University of the Arts London, a visiting professor in war studies at King’s College London and taught at an academy through the VII Foundation – which trains upcoming photojournalists from communities underrepresented in the media.
He was described by the foundation as a “courageous and beloved comrade, and a deeply devoted father and husband”.
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Santiago Lyon, former vice president and director of photography at The Associated Press news agency, also paid tribute, having worked with Mr Lowe during the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s.
He said Mr Lowe was a very “talented, courageous and committed photojournalist who repeatedly put himself in harm’s way to show the world the reality of war zones and humanitarian crises around the world”.
“His untimely death has profoundly affected the photojournalism community and we are in shock,” Mr Lyon said.
