Man Slain After Car Theft Went Awry, Jury Told

A North Hollywood man who was selling his sports car was shot and killed last year when he tried to prevent two other men from stealing the car after a test drive, a prosecutor told a jury Thursday.

Kent Derek Parrish, 22, of West Los Angeles shot Richard Ronald Davis, 19, last Sept. 17 after his plan to steal the car without using violence failed, Deputy Dist. Atty. Darlene Douglas said.

The trial of Parrish’s alleged accomplice, Ronald Lewis Fort, 21, of Culver City, began Thursday in San Fernando Superior Court. The two men are being tried in the same courtroom before separate juries. Opening statements in Parrish’s case are expected today.

Both men have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and robbery.

Parrish was arrested on Oct. 5, 1989, after police stopped the stolen Datsun 240-Z sports car for a traffic violation in West Los Angeles, authorities said.

Fort was taken into custody the next day. He told police that he and Parrish called Davis after seeing an ad for the car in the newspaper. Fort, who took a test drive with Davis, said he planned to divert Davis by asking him to go into his house after the ride to get a glass of water. Fort planned to steal the car, according to Douglas.

But Davis returned too quickly with the glass of water, Douglas said, and the men tried a second plan. They told Davis that they would discuss buying the car while he waited inside the house, Fort told police.

Fort’s lawyer, David Mann, told jurors that Parrish asked Fort to shoot Davis. “I’m not touching that gun,” Fort replied, according to the attorney.