VAN NUYS : Man Given Probation for Encouraging Suicide

A Tujunga man convicted of encouraging his despondent roommate to commit suicide was sentenced to four years probation Tuesday by a judge who called the episode a “tragic case.”

Alex Coventry, 44, who had been found guilty of violating California’s rarely used, 121-year-old assisted suicide law, was also ordered by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen to perform 500 hours of community service. Coventry gave his roommate a loaded shotgun last July and told him to “just do it.”

“I am convinced that even the most diligent of advocates for assisted suicide for purposes of mercy would condemn the actions of the defendant,” Coen said at the sentencing.

The judge made a “strong recommendation” that Coventry do his community service “in the area of suicide prevention,” such as a suicide hot line.

Coventry was found guilty of the felony charge in the suicide of Leonard Medina, a 42-year-old unemployed man who shared a Tujunga apartment with Coventry and Linda McDowell, Coventry’s girlfriend. Medina and McDowell had been drinking heavily most of the day of the suicide.