Overview
- Police responded around 9:20 p.m. Monday after a 911 call from Sykes’ wife reporting an assault at the family’s Delaware Avenue home, where paramedics pronounced the 71-year-old dead.
- Micah Sykes, 31, was found inside the residence, taken into custody without incident, and booked on suspicion of homicide, according to Santa Monica police.
- A suspected weapon was recovered at the scene, and forensic specialists are processing physical evidence as the investigation continues.
- The case has been forwarded to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration; jail records list bail at $2 million and a court appearance this week.
- Investigators have not released a motive; relatives and police noted the suspect’s history of mental illness, though its role in the killing has not been determined, and the victim was a Grammy-nominated baritone known for Bernstein’s Mass and performances at major venues.