The defense claims that his 92-year-old father was killed by the murder of his 51-year-old son

A 92-year-old former Southern California lawyer is accused of killing his son with a gun while he slept, but a defense attorney said Friday in court that "I'm going to kill you." The incident was provoked by "extreme psychological violence," according to reports.

Richard Landis Peck reportedly fired at his son, Robert Landis Peck, 51, from their home in San Diego, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

San Diego police said Richard was out of his home at around 6:30 pm On Wednesday, he called for help and said he had just shot his son, after which police officers found the dead son, the newspaper reported.

Richard pleaded not guilty to murder, reported Fox 5 San Diego.

Peck's lawyer, Douglas Gilliland, said in court that "it's a case of extreme psychological abuse," according to the Union-Tribune .

Gilliland said his son "got drunk blindly every day," moved in with his father about three months ago and was on the brink of divorce, according to the report.

He added that Elder Peck had twice called the police on his son when he feared for his safety, the newspaper reported. Once, the father thought that he was in danger and the police took the son to a mental hospital. Another time, the son broke objects at home, but the officers refused to get involved, saying it was a family problem, Gilliland said.

Wednesday night, the son broke his father's landline, which allowed him to communicate with the police and his daughter in Georgia, Gilliland told the newspaper.

The son then told his father, "I'll see you later," while he was heading for the bed, but Elder Peck was too scared to go to bed tonight- there, said Gilliland.

Gilliland said the Georgian family knew Richard was "in a dangerous situation," according to the report.

The father, a former deputy attorney for the City of San Diego, now uses a wheelchair, is "spirited in spirit" and poses no threat to the public, Gilliland told Union-Tribune.

"This is an unusual case," said the newspaper's attorney. "But at the end of the day, he took someone else's life and he was not allowed to do it."

The judge, having ordered that Richard be held on bail of $ 500,000, said that she would consider the amount at a hearing on Tuesday, Fox 5 San Diego said.

Prosecutor Daniel Shim, Deputy Attorney General, was quoted as saying that the accused was at least 50 years in prison for life if convicted.