Civil trial begins in lawsuit over deadly LAPD shooting of 14-year-old girl in North Hollywood

BURBANK, Calif. () — A civil trial is underway over an Los Angeles police officer’s fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl in a Burlington store in North Hollywood.

Lawyers delivered opening statements Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court in Burbank in a case centered on the death of Valentina Orellana-Peralta. The girl’s family is suing for wrongful death.

Orellana-Peralta was shopping for Christmas clothes with her mother at a Burlington store in North Hollywood on Dec. 23, 2021, when she was struck by a bullet that had gone through the dressing room wall.

Police were responding to calls for help after a man wielding a bike lock attacked two women in the building. As armed officers walked through the store, Officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. fired his rifle three times, killing the man and Orellana-Peralta.

The lawsuit filed by the girl’s parents alleges wrongful death, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Her mother Soledad Peralta “felt her daughter’s body go limp and watched helplessly as her daughter died while still in her arms,” the lawsuit states.

It alleges that the LAPD failed to adequately train and supervise the responding officers and “fostered an environment that allowed and permitted this shooting to occur.”

“You don’t bring an AR-15 to a bike lock fight,” attorney Nick Rowley, who represents the family, told reporters.

Inside the courtroom, an attorney for the family held up a wooden replica rifle to show jurors the weapon used in the shooting while body camera video played, capturing chaotic moments just before the gunfire.

The police commission later found parts of the shooting were out of policy. The California Department of Justice declined to file criminal charges.

The family is seeking $100 million in damages.

Attorneys for the city are expected to begin their opening statements Thursday morning.

The LAPD declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Attorneys for the city also declined to speak.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.