On April 2, 1993, a California courtroom turned into a scene of shocking violence when Ellie Nesler shot and killed Daniel Mark Driver during his court hearing. Driver had been accused of molesting five boys, including Nesler’s six-year-old son William, at a Christian camp in Tuolumne County. What happened that day started a big debate across the United States about whether parents should take the law into their own hands.
The morning of the shooting was difficult from the start. William Nesler started throwing up that morning and kept doing it even after they got to the courthouse. His mother looked very nervous and worried about her son having to be in the same room as the man who had hurt him. When Driver walked into the courthouse, people watching said he looked at the young boy and smiled in a mean way. Nesler tried to jump at Driver but her sister grabbed her and stopped her.
According to Wikipedia, during a break in the hearing, Nesler took a .25-caliber gun from her sister’s purse and shot Driver five times in the head, killing him right away in front of the packed courthouse. Later, she told police, “I may not be God, but I tell you what, I’m the closest damn thing to it.” Driver already had a record for child molestation. He was convicted in 1983 in Santa Clara County but only spent five months in jail.
What happened after the shooting
At first, many people supported Nesler. They saw her as a brave mother who did something when the courts were moving too slowly. The story made headlines all over the country and was even turned into a TV movie called Judgment Day: The Ellie Nesler Story in 1999, with Christine Lahti playing Nesler. But people started to feel differently when they found out Nesler was on methamphetamine when she shot Driver. They also learned she had been arrested before for stealing a car.
Ellie Nesler shot and killed Mark Driver her 6 year old son’s molester. Smuggled a gun into court and 1 head shot. 1993 Jamestown California. She was my hero. pic.twitter.com/XSa5ndYrPR
— Janie (@Janieonthecoast) October 5, 2025
Nesler was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and got a 10-year prison sentence. Her lawyer, J. Tony Serra, tried to argue that she was temporarily insane when she pulled the trigger. But the California Supreme Court threw out her sentence later because some jury members did bad things during the trial. She made a deal with prosecutors and got out after three years.
In 2002, Nesler went back to prison after being sentenced to six years for selling and having methamphetamine. When she left the courtroom, she said she was innocent and told reporters she could not get a fair trial in Tuolumne County. Like other shocking true crime cases that have captured public attention, Nesler’s story kept going long after that day in court. She got out of a women’s prison in Chowchilla in 2006.
The sad events kept hurting the Nesler family for years. Ellie died on December 26, 2008, at UC Davis Medical Center from breast cancer. She was 56 years old. Her son William also got into serious trouble with the law. He was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2005 for killing a man during a fight. He is now serving a 25-years-to-life sentence. The case shows how crime can tear families apart in terrible ways. William later said that what hurt him the most was not the molestation, but losing his mother.
