Help from a friend

Milena works in the complaints division of the district attorney’s office. After enduring a Soviet orphanage, foster care and the streets, the 20-year-old has found a friend in Higgins.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Milena confers with deputy district attorney Pam Frohreich in Division 30, one of the busiest criminal courtrooms in the city.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

On most days, Milena works at the prosecution table in Division 30.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Milena tries to remember where she placed a court file as deputy district attorney Pam Frohreich looks on.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Milena sits at deputy district attorney Tom Higgins’ desk while she waits for him in his 17th-floor office in the downtown criminal coutrs building.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Milena met Higgins when he showed up at a mixer for potential mentors at Covenant House, a Hollywood homeless shelter where she was then living.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Milena jokes with Higgins on the way to lunch, which they often share.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Milena chats with coworker Julie Wong in the district attorney’s 17th-floor offices.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Slatten stretches in the Division 30 courtroom. The tumult there seems to suit her.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Milena reads a music magazine at a Hollywood newsstand while making the rounds of her favorite haunts.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Milena pores over CDs on sale at Virgin Records Megastore in Hollywood. She’s a fan of Evanescence singer Amy Lee.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Milena waits for a Red Line train. After Covenant House asked her to move out, Higgins intervened with the organization, which allowed her to stay. She has started seeing a therapist and has begun smiling more.  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)

Milena does pull-ups from the handrail of a Red Line train. “She’s no longer a victim,” Higgins says of Milena, “but with that comes the liability of responsibility.”  (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)