Steven Earl Parent Victim of the Charles Manson murders Date of Birth: 12.02.1951 Country: USA

Biography of Steven Earl Parent

Steven Earl Parent was born on February 12, 1951, in California. He was the son of Wilfred Elmer Parent, a construction supervisor, and his wife, Juanita, a homemaker. He grew up in El Monte, Los Angeles, with his three younger siblings. Parent attended Arroyo High School in El Monte, where he spent his free time listening to popular folk music and strumming his guitar. However, his main interest was focused on electronics and mechanics, which eventually led him into trouble with the law.

Parent was arrested several times for stealing radios with the sole purpose of dismantling them to understand how they worked. As a result of his crimes, he spent time in a youth correctional facility.

In June 1969, after graduating from school, Steven planned to attend Citrus Junior College in Azusa, California, one of the oldest colleges in the state. To earn money for tuition, he worked two jobs. During the day, he worked as a courier for Valley City Plumbing Company in Rosemead, and in the evenings, he worked as a salesperson at Jonas Miller Stereo on Wilshire Boulevard.

In July 1969, Parent gave a ride to William Garretson, who was responsible for maintaining order at the house on 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, which was rented by director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate. Parent offered to drive Garretson back to the estate and was told he was welcome to visit anytime he was nearby.

On the night of August 8, 1969, after finishing work, Steven arrived at the Cielo Drive house around 11:45 pm, hoping to sell Garretson a Sony AM-FM clock radio. However, Garretson declined the offer. Parent then called his friend Jerrold Friedman to discuss building a stereo system and spent some time in the house having a beer with Garretson. Around midnight, Steven said goodbye and prepared to leave.

At that moment, members of Charles Manson's Family climbed over the fence and sneaked onto the property with the intention of robbery and murder. Parent got into his father's car, a white 1966 Rambler, drove through the parking lot, and stopped to press the button to open the electronic gate. As the driver rolled down the window, a stranger emerged from the darkness and shouted, "Stop!" It was Charles "Tex" Watson, a member of Manson's Family, holding a .22 caliber revolver in one hand and a knife in the other. Parent pleaded, "Please don't hurt me. I won't say anything." Steven covered his face with his hands to protect himself, and Watson swung the knife, cutting off his wristwatch. Then Watson shot Steven four times in the face and chest.

In the morning of August 9, 1969, the bodies of Steven Parent, Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, and Wojciech Frykowski were discovered by Polanski's housekeeper, Winifred Chapman, who arrived for work. The only survivor, William Garretson, had not encountered the killers and apparently heard nothing from his separate quarters. When Parent's body was found, it could not be immediately identified. For a time, the victim was known to authorities as "John Doe 85". Later, a local priest recognized Parent's body and went to the homicide investigator's office when Parent's family reported him missing. Steven's funeral took place on August 13, 1969, at the Church of the Nativity in El Monte, and his body was buried at Queen of Heaven Cemetery near Rowland Heights.

Steven's father, Wilfred, criticized the media for focusing on the more famous victims and showing no interest in his son. Steven's sister, Janet Parent, later began attending parole hearings for her brother's killers and publicly spoke out against the parole of Susan Atkins and Charles "Tex" Watson.