Attorney general won't file criminal case against LA officer in 2021 shooting that killed teen

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California Attorney General declined to file criminal charges against a Los Angeles police officer who fired a rifle at a suspect inside a clothing store in 2021, killing a 14-year-old girl in a dressing room, authorities said Wednesday.

Officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. fired three times when police responded to a Burlington clothing store in the San Fernando Valley where 24-year-old Daniel Elena Lopez, wielding a heavy bike lock, had brutally attacked two women on Dec. 23, 2021.

Elena Lopez was killed in the shooting, as was Valentina Orellana Peralta as she prayed in a dressing room with her mother.

An autopsy report found that Elena Lopez was on methamphetamine at the time of his death.

The state Department of Justice investigates all police shootings where an unarmed person is killed. Instead of criminal charges, officials recommended that the Los Angeles Police Department “should consider updating their communication training bulletin and any related training to account for the type of situation presented during this event.”

“This case was a particularly challenging one to process as this involved the loss of two lives,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement announcing the report. “Any loss of life is a tragedy, and my heart goes out especially to the family of Valentina Orellana Peralta, who tragically lost her life and whose only involvement in this incident was by being at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Body camera video released in 2021 showed the officers walking through the store in a formation. Wielding a rifle, Jones pushed to the front of the pack even as other officers repeatedly said to slow down.

The officers saw a woman crawling on the blood-stained floor and Elena Lopez on the other side of the aisle, according to the video footage. “Hold up! Hold up!” another officer screamed just before Jones fired three shots.

Jones told investigators that he believed someone inside the store was shooting people, that he saw a bleeding victim, mistook the bicycle lock Elena Lopez was wielding for a gun and that he thought a wall behind Elena Lopez backed up against an exterior brick wall that would block the officer’s shots. In fact, the area contained the women’s dressing rooms.

The Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment on the attorney general’s decision Wednesday, citing ongoing civil litigation. Jones' attorney did not respond to phone and email requests for comment.

The department's civilian oversight board ruled in 2022 that Jones was justified in firing once but that his two subsequent shots were out of policy. Police Chief Michel Moore, who has since retired, previously found in his own review that all three shots were unjustified.

Jones remains a full-time officer with the department, LAPD Captain Kelly Muniz said.

The teen's parents filed a lawsuit in state court in 2022 alleging wrongful death and negligence. Their attorney did not immediately respond to phone and email requests for comment Wednesday.

Her family had left Chile to get away from violence and injustice in search of a better life in the U.S. Orellana Peralta's parents remembered her as a happy teen with many friends who loved sports, adored animals and excelled in school.

FILE - Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas, father of Valentina Orellana Peralta, speaks during a news conference outside the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters in Los Angeles, on Dec. 28, 2021. The California Attorney General declined to file criminal charges against a Los Angeles police officer who fired a rifle at a suspect inside a clothing store in 2021, killing the 14-year-old girl in a dressing room, authorities said Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)

FILE - Police officers arrive the scene where two people were struck by gunfire in a shooting at a Burlington store, part of a chain formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021. The California Attorney General declined to file criminal charges against a Los Angeles police officer who fired a rifle at a suspect inside a clothing store in 2021, killing a 14-year-old girl in a dressing room, authorities said Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu,File)

PHOENIX (AP) — Mexico's top official in the Arizona border town of Nogales said Tuesday his country is displeased that prosecutors in the U.S. won't retry an American rancher accused of fatally shooting a Mexican man on his property.

Prosecutors had the option to retry George Alan Kelly, 75, or drop the case after the jury deadlocked on a verdict last week and the judge declared a mistrial.

“This seems to us to be a very regrettable decision,” Mexican Consul General Marcos Moreno Baez said of the announcement a day earlier by the Santa Cruz County Attorney Office.

“We will explore other options with the family, including a civil process,” Moreno said, referring to the possibility of a lawsuit.

Kelly had been charged with second-degree murder in the Jan. 30, 2023, shooting of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, 48, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico.

Prosecutors had said Kelly recklessly fired nine shots from an AK-style rifle toward a group of men about 100 yards (90 meters) away on his cattle ranch near the U.S. southern border. Kelly has said he fired warning shots in the air, but argued he didn’t shoot directly at anyone.

Judge Thomas Fink said a hearing would be scheduled later to determine if the case would be dismissed with prejudice, which would mean it couldn’t be brought back to court. No new documents in the case had been posted by midday Tuesday.

Kelly's defense attorney Brenna Larkin welcomed the decision not to retry her client.

“Mr. Kelly and his wife have been living through a nightmare for over a year, and they can finally rest easy,” said Larkin said Tuesday. “While that injustice to Gabriel and his family is unfortunate, we are at least pleased to know that the injustice will not be compounded by scapegoating an innocent man.”

Larkin said she was "curious about the Mexican government’s continued involvement in this case"" and noted that Cuen-Buitimea had been arrested and deported several times for illegal entry into the U.S.

Moreno said the consulate he heads in Nogales, Arizona, will continue supporting Cuen-Buitimea's family. Consular officials sat with the victim's two adult daughters during the trial.

The trial coincided with a U.S. presidential election race that has drawn widespread interest in border security. During it, court officials took jurors to Kelly’s ranch as well as a section of the U.S.-Mexico border.

A sign referring to Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, a Mexican man found dead on the ranch of George Alan Kelly, sits outside the Santa Cruz County Courthouse on Monday, April 29, 2024. Kelly's trial on a charge of second-degree murder ended last week with a deadlocked jury, and prosecutors said Monday during a hearing that they would not retry him. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP)

George Alan Kelly listens as county prosecutors call to dismiss his criminal case during a hearing Monday, April 29, 2024, in Nogales, Ariz. Kelly's trial in the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property ended last week with a deadlocked jury. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP)

Ana Maria Vasquez Leon, left, and Magdaleno Rosa Avila protest outside the courthouse on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Nogales, Arizona. The trial of rancher George Alan Kelly in the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property ended last week with a deadlocked jury, and prosecutors said during a hearing Monday they would not retry him. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP)

George Alan Kelly, center, is followed by reporters as he exits the Santa Cruz County Courthouse on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Nogales, Arizona. Kelly's trial in the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property ended last week with a deadlocked jury and prosecutors said Monday they will not retry him. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP)