Thread: "Family of Toddler killed by LAPD files claims

Family of toddler killed by LA police files claims against city
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES- Relatives of a toddler killed by police during a shootout with the child's father have filed claims against the city and the police department, their attorney said.

The claims, which were filed late Monday and accuse police of negligence, are a precursor to a civil lawsuit.

A Los Angeles police representative was unavailable to comment early Tuesday.

Suzie Marie Pena, aged 19 months, was killed by a police bullet as officers exchanged fire with her father, Jose Raul Pena, on July 10.

The 2 1/2-hour shootout started when Pena barricaded himself inside his Watts auto dealership and fired numerous rounds at officers and toward neighboring homes and businesses while using Suzie as a shield, police have said.

Attorney Leo Carrillo, who is representing Suzie Pena's family, accused police on Monday of not giving negotiators enough time to try to talk the father into surrendering. He also accused officers of recklessly using a flash-bang grenade.

The incident is being investigated.


Now I wasn't there, but don't these people(the family) ever consider that the suspect may be at fault. Instead of blaming the the coward who used the child as a shield they blame the people trying to save the child? .

This is a horrible tragedy for everyone involed the PD was forced to make the decision and the worst case happened. I hope this gets worked out for the OFC. sake, and the healing process can begin.

You had to have seen this one coming. I am only surprised that they allowed this amount of time to pas before filing. As far as putting the actual blame on the person most deserving of it, allow me to do a monologue of one my favorite movie scenes from Unforgiven.

Gene Hackman as Little Bill Daggett: " I don't deserve this... to die like this. I was building a house."
Clint Eastwood as William Munny: "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it."

Originally Posted by pantless

Now I wasn't there, but don't these people(the family) ever consider that the suspect may be at fault. Instead of blaming the the coward who used the child as a shield they blame the people trying to save the child?

Predictable and expected these days. The problem of course is that even though you have officers making the correct decision in life or death circumstances, there will still be second guessing of everything that put them in the position of having to make that decision: policy, supervision, training, etc. This was just a bad situation for those involved, even though the suspect created this situation, it's a bit more understandable in this case that the family would look to spread the blame around considering that not just the suspect but a toddler died.

I imagine they were approached by a lawyer thinking, "Hey, I can get big bucks out of this on attorney fees."