A Los Angeles police officer took the stand in a wrongful death trial over the 2021 fatal shooting of 14-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta. The girl was struck by a bullet that passed through a dressing room wall at a Burlington store in North Hollywood while trying on Christmas dresses. Officers had opened fire on a man wielding a bike lock.
In December 2021, LAPD officers responded to reports of a man attacking shoppers at the Burlington store in North Hollywood, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. Daniel Elena-Lopez, then 24, was swinging a bike lock at victims when officers, including William Doresy Jones Jr., engaged him. One of Jones's three rifle shots pierced the dressing room wall, killing Valentina Orellana-Peralta, who was with her mother, Soledad Peralta. Police confirmed the girl was struck by an officer's round and pronounced dead at the scene. The officer later told investigators he mistook the bike lock for a gun and believed the wall behind the suspect led to the building's exterior, not a thin partition to a dressing room. The trial began on Wednesday, with Jones testifying on Thursday. He stated that based on the scene's circumstances, he believed deadly force might be necessary. The girl's family attorneys highlighted that a senior officer had reported the suspect was on the second floor wearing shorts and armed with a bike lock, information Jones allegedly ignored. Nick Rowley, a family attorney, remarked to reporters, 'You don't bring an AR-15 to a bike lock fight.' External reviews produced conflicting findings. The Los Angeles Police Commission deemed only one of Jones's shots justified, while former LAPD Chief Michel Moore ruled all three unjustified. The family seeks $100 million in damages, alleging wrongful death, negligence, and failure to train officers adequately. The lawsuit describes how Soledad Peralta felt her daughter's body go limp in her arms. Rowley added, 'Valentina had her entire life in front of her, and it was taken in an instant due to reckless decisions.'