Prosecutors said Wednesday that no criminal charges will be filed in the 2021 death of 14-year-old Valentina Orellana Peralta, who was struck and killed by a stray bullet fired by a Los Angeles police officer.
Following a Department of Justice investigation, the report concluded that criminal charges were not appropriate in this case.
“This case was particularly challenging to process because two lives were lost,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “Any loss of life is a tragedy, and my heart goes out especially to the family of Valentina Orellana Peralta, who tragically lost her life and whose only involvement in this incident was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Orellana-Peralta was in one of the dressing rooms of a North Hollywood store in Burlington on December 23 when a stray bullet was fired at an assault suspect. went through the wall and hit her. She was with her mother trying on dresses for her quinceañera.
A police report filed by the LAPD states that the suspect in the attack was approached by security at the Burlington store when he began exhibiting unruly behavior, including assaulting another customer and breaking a store window with a heavy-duty bicycle lock.
Police responded to a call of gunshots and approached the suspect as he was assaulting a customer. That’s when an officer fired.
The suspect was shot in the chest and died on the spot. He was later identified as 24-year-old Daniel Elena Lopez.
The DOJ’s investigative report also included Lopez’s death, for which the department also ruled criminal charges were not appropriate.
Subsequently, LAPD Chief Michel Moore called for the immediate release of bodycam video, surveillance footage and recordings of all 911 calls about the incident, a process that normally takes 45 days. He called the incident chaotic, tragic and devastating.
Days after the shooting, Orellana-Peralta’s family held a news conference with lawyers and demands transparency. Her mother, Soledad Peralta, said she was with her daughter at the time of the shooting and said she and Valentina heard a commotion in the locker room before hugging and praying for peace and safety.
“Suddenly we felt an explosion that pulled us both to the ground… I had no idea she had been shot. Her body went limp. I tried to shake her, but her body went limp,” Peralta said.
The law requires that any fatal shooting by an officer, intentional or not, must be investigated by the state’s attorney general.
