Ellie Nesler came to public attention in 1993 when she shot and killed the accused molester of her son during a hearing in a Tuolumne County courtroom. 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." Nesler died at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento after battling lung cancer. She was 56. Sacramento Bee and wires
California
Ellie Nesler, vigilante mother, dies
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