Trial Begins for the Shooting Death of 14-Year-Old Girl in North Hollywood Burlington Store
Jury Selection Underway in Shooting Death of 14-Year-Old Girl in North Hollywood
Jury selection commenced Wednesday in the case surrounding the shooting death of Valentina Orellana-Peralta, a 14-year-old girl fatally struck by gunfire from a Los Angeles police officer inside a Burlington store in North Hollywood on December 23, 2021.
At the time of the incident, Orellana-Peralta was in a changing room, trying on clothes for Christmas when a bullet, discharged by Officer William Jones during an attempt to apprehend an assault suspect, passed through the walls, resulting in her tragic death.
Following California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s decision not to pursue criminal charges against Officer Jones, Orellana-Peralta’s parents, Soledad Peralta and Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas, filed a civil lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Bonta characterized the shooting as a case of being "in the wrong place at the wrong time," leaving the family, according to their spokesperson Sennett Devermont, feeling "crushed." He remarked in 2024, "This avoids all oversight, all accountability that needs to be had."
The case draws attention to broader concerns over police conduct, with activists questioning whether officers could have de-escalated the situation without resorting to gunfire. This scrutiny intensified following the release of body-camera footage that captured the assault suspect attacking a woman inside the store with a cable bike lock before being shot by police.
The trial is set to unfold over several days at the Burbank Courthouse, taking place amid a broader context of financial strain for the city of Los Angeles, which faces an overspending gap exceeding $208 million, partially attributed to legal settlements related to police actions.
