Local News in Brief : Son of Slain Woman, 2 Others to Be Tried on Murder Charges

An El Camino High School student and two of his friends were ordered Tuesday to stand trial on charges of strangling his mother, attempting to murder his 8-year-old half brother and conspiring on two counts.

Van Nuys Municipal Judge James M. Coleman ruled that the prosecution had presented enough evidence during a preliminary hearing to hold the three for trial. They will be arraigned in Van Nuys Superior Court on Feb. 11.

Torran Lee Meier, 17, of Canoga Park is accused of planning the slaying of his mother, Shirley A. Rizk, and enlisting the help of Richard Allan Parker, 23, of Antelope Valley, and Matthew Adam Jay, 18, of Woodland Hills.

Meier told police after his arrest that his mother had abused him and that he had grown to fear her, Sheriff’s Sgt. Rene Laporte testified during the hearing.

The three wrestled Rizk to the floor of her home on Oct. 13 and took turns strangling her with a rope, Laporte said.

When Meier’s brother, Rory Rizk, wandered into the room during the attack, the three decided that he, too, should be killed because he was a witness, Laporte said.

The three at first tried to poison Rory, but, when those attempts failed, Meier tied Rory’s wrists “like handcuffs,” blindfolded him and placed him in the back seat of a car, Laporte said. Meier and Parker then set the car on fire and pushed it over a cliff in Malibu early on Oct. 14, Laporte said, with Rizk’s body in the front seat and Rory in the back.

Rory testified Monday that he freed himself, climbed out of the burning car and was taken to safety by a passing motorist.