Ellie Nesler who gained notoriety in 1993 when she put five bullets in the head of the man accused of molesting her son has died.  She was 56.

Ellie Nesler shot Daniel Driver five times in the head in a Tuolumne County courtroom while on a break.  The killing ignited the debate on vigilante justice.  Driver was in a preliminary hearing for allegedly abusing four boys including Nesler’s then 6 year-old son, William at a Christian camp.

She served for three and a half years as her case was winding down.  She later agreed to  plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was later released to her son and daughter.

Nesler died at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento from complications with cancer.  She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1994 .  Her case was made into a TV movie, “Judgment Day: The Ellie Nesler Story”.