Victim identified as pair of suspects are charged in Glendale murder

[UPDATE 9/14 4:57 p.m.] The 31-year-old man killed in a Glendale home last week was identified as John Michael King-Smith, court records show.

On Monday, two people, Sparkle Soojian, 32, and Jared Kasiewicz, 28, were charged with murder in connection with his death, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

A third individual arrested last week, Courtney Argue, 25, was charged with one count of accessory after the fact of murder.

Around 2 a.m. Thursday, police were called to the 200 block of West Windsor Road, where the victim was in a state of “medical distress,” said Glendale police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot.

The victim, who did not live at the residence, was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Soojian and King-Smith reportedly knew each other.

Police believe he was targeted and the killing was not a random act of violence, Lightfoot said.

The cause of death remains under investigation, though detectives believe foul play was involved.

Soojian has domestic violence and assault charges pending against her stemming from an incident earlier this year in which she allegedly attacked her spouse — co-defendant Kasiewicz — with a glass shard, court records show.

Argue’s attorney Alex Kessel denied any wrongdoing on behalf of his client.

Soojian, he said, had called Argue scared and had asked her to come over after the victim showed up at Soojian’s home.

Soojian and Argue are friends and reportedly work together distributing shots at bars and clubs, he said.

When Argue arrived at the home with another man, several people were already there and a fight was reportedly in progress.

Argue called the police to report the incident, and captured parts of it on video, Kessel said.