14-year-old girl shot by police remembered at LA funeral
LOS ANGELES — A 14-year-old girl who was killed when a Los Angeles police officer fired at a suspect at a clothing store and the bullet pierced a wall was remembered Monday as a happy teen with many friends who loved sports, adored animals and excelled in school.
The body of Valentina Orellana-Peralta was displayed in a pink dress inside a flower-draped casket next to large photos of the girl during a funeral at City of Refuge, United Church of Christ in Gardena, near Los Angeles.
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The teen’s father, Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas, said he and her mother will never get over the devastation of losing Valentina so violently.
“As parents, we ask ourselves, is it just for our daughter to die in this way? It’s an answer we will never have,” he said.
Orellana-Peralta died in the arms of her mother, Soledad Peralta, Dec. 23 at a Burlington store in the San Fernando Valley’s North Hollywood neighborhood. Police officers shot and killed a suspect who was behaving erratically and brutally attacked two women.
One of the police bullets went through drywall behind the man and killed the girl, who was hiding in a changing room with her mother, police said.
“We pray for peace and justice for this innocent blood spilled,” said Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the girl’s family.