Photo: ROBYN BECK / AFP / Getty Images
Sunday, November 17
Valentina Orellana-Peralta's mother recounted the shooting in which her daughter was shot by police when she tried on dresses in North Hollywood
The mother of Valentina Orellana-Peralta , the Latina teenager of 14 years who died from a gunshot a Los Angeles police officer in a North Hollywood store, stated that they had locked themselves in the dressing room when they heard screams and loud noises .
“He went and closed the door to try to protect us. We began to hug each other tightly as we heard more loud noises and commotion, “said Soledad Peralta, in a statement read this Tuesday by her lawyer.
The parents of 14 – year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta described their daughter as someone with dreams, like being able to go to a Laker game with her father, and becoming an American citizen. https://t.co/nC9SjGKmh2
— KTVU (@KTVU) December 28, 2021
Valentina Orellana-Peralta was at the Burlington store where she was trying on dresses for Christmas .
14 – year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta was killed by a round from a police rifle as LAPD officers responded to an incident inside the store. https://t.co/cu 30 AmVnbA
– KRDO NewsChannel 13 (@KRDONC 13) December 28, 2021
“With our eyes closed we began to pray… I was praying for my daughter and I think she was praying for my safety. Suddenly we felt an explosion that threw us to the ground “, added Peralta.
” I had no idea that he had been shot. Her body went limp and I tried to wake her up by shaking her, but she didn’t wake up, ”said Soledad, whose daughter died in her arms.
“The deepest pain any human being can imagine,” said Peralta .
Valentina Orellana-Peralta’s parents offered a public statement on Tuesday in front of the square at the main entrance of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) , in the center of the city.
Juan Pablo Orellana, Valentina’s father, declared that the only dream his daughter had was to be a US citizen .
Six months ago, Valentina arrived in Los Angeles from Chile. She was an exceptional student who dreamed of becoming an American citizen and studying Engineering , her parents reported .
The Latina teenager was in a second-floor dressing room when an officer LAPD officer shot a man who assaulted a woman inside the store .
The subject, Daniel Elena López, of 24 years, was not armed and died from the police shooting, but one of the bullets went through the wall of the dressing room where Valentina and her mother were .
The officer who fired the shots has not been identified, but some versions indicate that he is on a paid license while investigations are being carried out .
The body camera images of l The officers involved in the shooting were released Monday by the LAPD, as well as recordings of calls to 911.
In Chile, an aunt of Valentina told the media that would seek to repatriate the remains of the teenager and that they would travel to accompany the young woman’s parents in these difficult times.
Relatives of Valentina Orellana-Peralta created a GoFundMe page to be able to pay for funeral expenses and the different procedures necessary for her repatriation to Chile.
It may interest you:
· Family of Valentina Orellana-Peralta, who died in a shooting in Los Angeles when she was trying on a quinceañera dress, will seek to repatriate her remains to Chile VIDEO: Los Angeles, where a teenager who tried on a quinceañera dress died
· Latino civil rights group demands responses to shooting in which Latina teen was shot dead by an officer in Los Angeles