Local News in Brief : Parents Sue Alleged Killer of Their Son

The parents of a 26-year-old Canoga Park man who was shot to death last year when he came to the aid of an elderly woman being robbed have filed a wrongful death suit against the alleged teen-age killer and two other youths.

Roy and Lena Nelson, parents of Ronnie L. Nelson, who was killed after cornering the robbery suspect in an alley behind a Van Nuys grocery store, filed the suit in Burbank Superior Court. The couple, who are representing themselves, are seeking $1 million in damages.

Named as defendants in the suit are John Wayne Henderson, John Romano and Michael Romano. Henderson, 17, was arrested and charged with murder last April in Lake Worth, Tex., after authorities traced a jacket he left behind to a high school he attended there. He is scheduled to stand trial Feb. 6 in Van Nuys Superior Court.

Henderson remains in custody in Los Angeles County Jail. No one else has been charged in the slaying. However, police said a John Romaine and a Michael Romaine were questioned about the incident. Lena Nelson declined to comment on the discrepancies in the names.

The Nelsons charge in the suit that their son was acting “as a good and upstanding citizen” when he attempted to stop the robbery.