SACRAMENTO " Ellie Nesler, who sparked a national debate about vigilantism after killing her son's accused molester in a courtroom in 1993, has died of cancer.
A spokeswoman for the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento says Nesler died there Friday morning. The 56-year-old had battled breast cancer since 1994.
Nesler shot Daniel Driver five times in the head during a break in his preliminary hearing in a Tuolumne County courtroom. Driver had been accused of molesting four boys including her son Willy.
She was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and served three years of a 10-year sentence before winning an appeal based on jury misconduct.
The case became a 1999 TV movie, "Judgment Day: The Ellie Nesler Story."