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2w ago

Officer Testifies in LAPD Wrongful-Death Trial Over 14-Year-Old Killed in Burlington Dressing Room

The case tests LAPD training and use-of-force oversight.

Valentina Orellana-Peralta, 14, was killed Dec. 23, 2021 when she was struck by gunfire inside a North Hollywood Burlington store.
FILE - Police officers work near a broken glass door at the scene where two people were struck by gunfire in a shooting at a Burlington store, Dec. 23, 2021, in North Hollywood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)
FILE - Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas, father of Valentina Orellana Peralta, speaks during a news conference outside the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, Dec. 28, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)
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Overview

  • Officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. took the stand, facing questions on his training and rifle use in the 2021 shooting that killed 14-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta inside a North Hollywood Burlington store.
  • Lawyers opened the case Wednesday in Burbank, showing jurors body-camera video as a family attorney displayed a wooden replica of the rifle used during the encounter.
  • The parents seek $100 million and argue the LAPD failed to train and supervise officers after a response to a bike-lock assault led to fatal shots inside the store.
  • Internal findings conflict as the Police Commission said only the first of three shots was justified while then–Chief Michel Moore said all three were unjustified, and the state attorney general declined criminal charges.
  • Testimony is set to continue next week in a case that could add to Los Angeles’ legal costs and pressure changes to police training and use-of-force rules.