The father of 14-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta expressed his sorrow at a press conference Tuesday morning outside of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Headquarters after his daughter was shot dead in a dressing room. The fatal event occurred on Dec. 23 at a North Hollywood Burlington store.
Coroner records show that Orellana-Peralta was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest. The suspect is 24-year-old Daniel Elena-Lopez.
“I have no words to describe what I’m going through, especially during this holiday season,” Juan Pablo Orellana Larenas said. “I cannot sleep… All she wanted was to become [an] American citizen. I once told her, ‘Let’s leave this country.’ ‘No, papa,’ she said. ‘This is the safest country in the world, a country of opportunity.’ Now my daughter is dead at the hands of the state.”
“The girl’s American dream has been taken from her,” the victim’s uncle, Rodrigo Orellana, told CNN affiliate Chilevision from their native Chile this week.
“LAPD believes the 14-year-old girl was killed by an officer’s bullet that passed through the wall of a dressing room, where she was found,” ABC7 reported.
“This chaotic incident resulting in the death of an innocent child is tragic and devastating for everyone involved,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement. “I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl’s life and I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family.”
Moore said a “thorough, complete and transparent investigation” into the shooting will be conducted and added that a critical incident video including 911 calls, radio transmissions, and body camera footage.