Jury finds city of LA not liable in death of 14-year-old girl hit by police officer’s stray bullet
The jury also rejected claims that Officer William Doresy Jones Jr. violated LAPD policy in the shooting that killed Valentina Peralta.
- On Thursday, May 7, 2026, a jury in Los Angeles County Superior Court found the city of Los Angeles not liable in the fatal 2021 shooting of 14-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta.
- The shooting occurred on December 23, 2021, at a North Hollywood Burlington store when Officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. fired at a suspect wielding a bike lock, unintentionally striking the teenager in a dressing room.
- Valentina's parents, Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas and Soledad Peralta, sought more than $100 million in damages, alleging Jones mistook the suspect's bike lock for a gun.
- After deliberating for just over a day, the jury sided with the city 9-3, prompting family attorney Nick Rowley to call it "the most devastating loss of my career."
- Previously, California Attorney General Rob Bonta declined to file criminal charges, finding the officer acted in self-defense, while the Police Commission ruled the officer's subsequent shots violated department policy.
26 Articles
26 Articles
Jury finds city of LA not liable in death of 14-year-old girl hit by police officer’s stray bullet
A jury Thursday found the city of Los Angeles was not liable in the killing of a 14-year-old girl who was hit by a police officer’s stray bullet during a shootout while Christmas shopping in 2021 with her mother.
Associated Press News
Jury finds city of LA not liable in death of 14-year-old girl hit by police officer's stray bullet
A jury has found the city of Los Angeles not liable in the killing of a 14-year-old girl who was hit by a police officer’s stray bullet during a shootout in 2021.
The jury acquitted the L.A.P.D. in the Valentina shooting case, which occurred in December 2021 in the North Hollywood store.
abc 7 Chicagoabc 7 LALAPD found not liable for officer's fatal shooting of 14-year-old girl in Burlington store
The Los Angeles Police Department was found not liable in the shooting of teen Valentina Orellana-Peralta at a Burlington store in N. Hollywood.
Jury finds LAPD officer not negligent in Burlington store shooting death of 14-year-old girl
The jury sided with the city in a 9-3 verdict in the Estate of Valentina Peralta v. City of Los Angeles case, finding that Officer William Dorsey Jones was not negligent in the Dec. 23, 2021, incident.
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