Boy Pleads Not Guilty in Mother’s Strangling

Torran Lee Meier, the 16-year-old Canoga Park boy charged with strangling his mother and attempting to poison his 8-year-old half brother, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Sylmar Juvenile Court.

Superior Court Judge Michael L. Burke scheduled a fitness hearing for Nov. 27 to determine whether Meier, a student at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, should be tried as a juvenile or as an adult.

If Burke rules Meier an adult, he could face first-degree murder charges, carrying a maximum penalty of 25 years to life. If the judge rules him a juvenile, Meier could only be confined to the California Youth Authority until he reaches 25.

Sheriff’s deputies said Meier and two friends strangled Shirley Rizk, a 34-year-old Northridge department store employee, on Oct. 13. The three also are alleged to have tried to entice Meier’s half brother, Rory, to eat a poisoned snack. When the boy refused, he was blindfolded and driven with his mother’s body to Malibu, where the car was set afire and dumped down a 60-foot slope, deputies said.

Reunion With Father

Wednesday’s arraignment on charges of murder and attempted murder was the scene of a reunion between Meier and his father, Dennis Meier, a 38-year-old Reseda printer who said he had not seen his son since he was 18 months old.

Dennis Meier said he and Shirley Rizk were married in June, 1968, while both were students at Sylmar High School. They were divorced after one year, he said, and she later remarried.

“I was happy to see him, but I was frustrated it was under these circumstances,” said Dennis Meier, who sat next to his son throughout the short proceeding.

Meier is being held in Sylmar Juvenile Hall. His two alleged accomplices, Richard Allan Parker, 23, of Antelope Valley, and Matthew Adam Jay, 18, of Woodland Hills have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. A preliminary hearing for them has been scheduled for Dec. 5 in Van Nuys Municipal Court.