Valentina Orellana-Peralta was declared dead at the spot after an officer’s bullet penetrated through the wall and struck her when police came and engaged the perpetrator with firearms. Daniel Elena-Lopez, a 24-year-old suspect, was also fatally shot by police.
Following a man’s December 23, 2021, attack on customers at the Burlington Coat Factory in North Hollywood, California, Valentina Orellana-Peralta and her mother were reportedly seen hugging and praying in the changing room, according to police.
Reporters were informed by an upset Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas—who was traveling from his home country of Chile to Los Angeles—that his daughter had previously told him that the United States was “the safest country in the world,” as CNN reported.
Soledad Peralta, Valentina’s mother, broke down in tears as she talked of hiding when she heard screaming during the girl’s Christmas dress shopping.
Peralta stated, “We sat down and held each other and prayed,” adding that Valentina collapsed to the ground following the gunshot.
Along with other speakers, Peralta addressed a press conference held outside the LAPD headquarters with civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump.
She died in my arms, her mother remarked. “I was unable to take action. One of the greatest and most intensely terrible things you can imagine is witnessing your son or daughter pass away in your arms. For me, Valentina, and her loved ones, she was everything. Our dear angel has now left us forever. Valentina gives us the strength to pursue justice. You have my affection, daughter.
Valentina’s parents stated at the time that she had traveled to the US from her home country of Chile six months before she was killed. She was excited to watch LeBron James play basketball in person and had always wanted to become an engineer. Days after her passing, her father displayed an unopened skateboard that he had given her as a Christmas present during a news appearance.
The absence of charges is noteworthy given the criticism surrounding the LAPD’s use of deadly force, which includes the recent death of a man who was clutching a plastic fork and experiencing a mental health episode.
A 14-year-old girl who was hiding in a department store fitting room was shot and killed by a Los Angeles police officer who was aiming at a suspect, according to the California Justice Department, which said it has no basis to press charges.
Under the Justice Department’s two-year-old program to look into fatal police shootings of unarmed civilians, Los Angeles Police Department Officer William Jones will not be charged.
Attorney General Rob Bonta stated in a statement that “this case was a particularly challenging one to process as this involved the loss of two lives,” as reported by NBC News. “Every death is tragic, and my thoughts and prayers are with the family of Valentina Orellana Peralta, who passed away tragically and whose only connection to this incident was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Since July 2021, the Justice Department program has resolved eight claims involving police shootings. In none of them has it suggested filing charges against police. The oldest of the 46 lawsuits that are currently pending dates back to August 2021.
The Justice Department determined in its study that “the evidence shows that Officer Jones likely believed he was acting in self-defense or defense of others.” “It seems that this killing was unexpected and unintentional.” Valentina was killed after one of the bullets from the “burst” of rounds struck the floor and entered the fitting room wall, according to a new report from the justice department, which was obtained by The Guardian. In the seconds before Jones was killed, two cops yelled at him to “slow down,” and one of them screamed, “Hold up, Jones, hold up – I got it,” right before Jones opened fire, according to the report. The Justice Department stated that Elena Lopez was holding a “dark object” at the time of his shooting, but it did not say what it was.
As per the justice department’s conclusion, there is no reasonable question that Officer Jones acted to protect himself and others from what he reasonably believed to be significant bodily damage or imminent death.