LA Jury Rules City Not Liable in Teen's 2021 Shooting Death

A Los Angeles jury ruled Thursday that the city was not liable for the death of 14-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta, who was fatally shot by a stray police bullet on December 23, 2021, while Christmas shopping with her mother at a Burlington store in the North Hollywood neighborhood.

The 9-3 verdict came after a nearly monthlong trial in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Valentina's parents, Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas and Soledad Peralta, against the Los Angeles Police Department. The suit alleged wrongful death, negligence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Jurors deliberated for just over a day before finding the city not negligent on all counts.

Police had responded to reports of a man assaulting women inside the store at 12121 Victory Blvd. with a metal bicycle lock. Officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. was among a group of armed officers who entered the building. Jones fired his rifle three times at 24-year-old Daniel Elena Lopez, the attacker, killing him. One bullet ricocheted off the ground behind Lopez, passed through a wall into a second-floor dressing room, and struck Valentina, who was trying on dresses.

Jones told the LAPD's Use of Force Review Board...