Youth Accused of Slaying Mother, Trying to Kill Brother

A 16-year-old Canoga Park boy was accused of murdering his mother and attempting to kill his half brother Monday after her body was found in a blazing car that was rolled down a 60-foot slope in Malibu, sheriff’s deputies said.

The youth’s 8-year-old half brother, Rory Rizk, escaped from the burning car, scrambled up to the road and flagged down a passing motorist.

The charred body in the car was identified as that of Shirley Rizk, 34, of 23958 Archwood Road, Canoga Park.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Kenyon said that 23-year-old Richard Alan Parker of Antelope Valley, a friend of the teen-ager, was booked on the same counts, and that a third teen-ager is being sought for questioning. The names of the the victim’s older son and the other teen-ager were withheld because of their ages.

Kenyon said Rory Rizk told investigators that his mother and his half brother had quarreled Sunday night, but he didn’t know what the fight was about. Sometime later, Rory said, his half brother asked him if he would like to go for a ride, and he agreed.

He told investigators that they drove to Malibu Canyon Road in his mother’s 1979 Thunderbird and stopped at a turnout. There, the boy said, his half brother and Parker blindfolded him and tied his hands.

Smelled Gasoline

It was then, according to Rory’s account, that he heard the trunk of the car open and felt someone being put into the front seat beside him. He told detectives that he smelled gasoline, then felt heat from flames as the car went rolling down the steep hillside.

Kenyon said the boy was able to untie his hands and pull off the blindfold. Rory told detectives that his mother was not moving and that he had to jump out before the flames reached him.

Then, Kenyon said, Rory scrambled up the hill and stopped a passing motorist about 3 a.m.

The burning car started a small brush fire, which was quickly controlled by Los Angeles County firemen.

It could not immediately be determined whether Mrs. Rizk burned to death or had been killed before the car was set on fire. She worked in the credit department of a local department store, a neighbor said.

Kenyon said Parker and the 16-year-old son were arrested a short time later “in the area” after the younger boy gave deputies a description.

Rory was released to the custody of his father after being treated for smoke inhalation at Westlake Hospital.

Margaret Voivod, a neighbor of Shirley Rizk, said the older son was a computer hacker who held a part-time job at a service station and was attending both El Camino High School and Pierce College.

Voivod, who said she was Rizk’s only friend in the middle-class neighborhood, described her as “a yeller . . . bossy and pushy” and described the 16-year-old as “quiet and never involved in any trouble.”

She added: “I can’t see (the older boy) doing that. But I can’t see Rory making it up.”

Another neighbor, Patricia Emery, said she had heard Mrs. Rizk and the 16-year-old arguing Sunday night. “I heard her scream at him about his paycheck . . . something about she wanted $50 from his paycheck,” Emery said.

Emery described the 16-year-old as a nice boy who was sometimes forced by his mother to mow the lawn at night by flashlight. She said the boy’s mother “got to be a neighborhood joke. . . . I felt sorry for the kid.”