2 Men Arrested in Fatal Shooting of Car Seller Who Offered Test-Drive

A routine traffic stop led to the arrest of two men in connection with the shooting death of a North Hollywood man who had given a test-drive in a used car he had advertised for sale to a pair posing as prospective buyers, authorities said Friday.

Kent Derek Parrish, 21, of West Los Angeles and Ronald Lewis Fort, 20, of Culver City were arrested after two patrol officers stopped Parrish for a traffic violation Thursday night and linked the car to the Sept. 17 robbery and killing, Los Angeles Police Lt. Ron LaRue said.

The victim, Richard Ronald Davis, 19, was shot several times and left lying near a curb in the 6600 block of Teesdale Avenue in North Hollywood, about two blocks from his home. Davis was found about half an hour after he told his family that he was taking two men for a test-drive in the 1973 Datsun 240-Z that he was trying to sell.

Police had few leads in the case until late Thursday when two officers on patrol in West Los Angeles stopped Parrish for a traffic violation in the same type of car, LaRue said.

Officers Al Evans and Stan Evans noticed that the car’s vehicle identification number appeared to have been switched from another car onto the Datsun, LaRue said. Suspecting that the car was stolen, the officers checked a secondary identification number on the car and found that it was the one that Davis had been trying to sell, LaRue said. The car had been recently painted.

Parrish was alone at the time, but he made statements to detectives that led to the arrest of Fort early Friday at Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, where his wife was undergoing minor surgery, LaRue said.

Investigators found a handgun at Parrish’s home. Ballistics tests have not yet been performed to determine whether the gun was used to kill Davis.

Parrish told police that he is employed as a security guard, and Fort was reported to be enlisted in the Navy, although the Navy could not confirm that Friday.

Detectives had learned from Davis’ mother that Davis advertised the car for sale for $2,000 in a classified advertising publication. On the day Davis was killed, a man believed to be one of the assailants called Davis and set up an appointment for a test-drive later that evening, police said.

Publicity about the killing generated considerable public concern because newspaper advertisements are a common method of selling used cars, he said.

Police advise people selling their cars to be careful with strangers by alerting family or friends about who the strangers are before going on a test-drive. Police also advise sellers to avoid being outnumbered by potential buyers, to write down the buyer’s license plate number and to follow a predetermined route that would allow them to be expected back at a certain time.

Parrish and Fort were being held without bail at the North Hollywood station. Detectives plan to ask the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to file murder charges against them Tuesday, LaRue said.