Sharpton Urges Calm After Death of Toddler

The Rev. Al Sharpton joined Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Sunday in calling for patience by community members until the city has finished its investigation into the death last week of a 19-month-old toddler killed in a police shootout with her father.

“There cannot be a knee-jerk reaction when we will always say the police are right,” Sharpton told those at Hope Community Church in South Los Angeles. “There cannot also be a reaction, knee-jerk in the community, saying they’re always wrong.”

The family of Suzie Marie Pena, the little girl who died July 10, filled the second pew at the church, a small, mostly black and Latino church in the shadow of the Harbor Freeway. As the mother, Lorena Lopez, listened to those who spoke, she occasionally wept quietly while her 16-year-old daughter smoothed her French-braided hair.

“It really got to our hearts to hear of the loss of a 19-month child in such a despicable way,” Sharpton told about 80 people.

He recalled instances of what he saw as clear examples of “police misconduct,” including the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers in 1991; the 1998 death of Tyisha Miller, a 19-year-old African American motorist who was killed by Riverside police officers in a hail of gunfire as she sat in her car with a gun in her lap; and an incident in Compton in May, when Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies fired 120 shots at a man in an SUV who did not stop when they pursued him.

But the most recent incident was different, Sharpton said, because it wasn’t clear who had acted wrongly.

“I take a different posture this time,” he said. “I say, we must fight for justice and I think, if we have confidence, the mayor will stand and make sure that will happen.”

Stepping up to the green-draped podium, Villaraigosa thanked Sharpton for his trust and his call for patience.

“Let me thank the Rev. Al Sharpton ... because the easy thing today would’ve been to say, ‘Let’s see justice now,’ knowing that we are going through a process.”

He renewed his commitment to a thorough investigation and asked everyone to identify with the family’s pain.

“Think,” he said, “just as I did yesterday, as I looked in the eyes of the Pena-Lopez family, ‘What if that had been my baby?’ ”

The mayor then repeated his statement in Spanish, looking directly at Lopez. After a prayer in which the whole congregation held hands, Sharpton and Villaraigosa came down from the pulpit and embraced eight members of the family.

The church’s pastor, the Rev. Kerry Allison, then spoke words of encouragement to the family during his sermon: “God is going to work it out.

“When all the news has gone away, Hope Church will be there for you,” he added. “We are adopting this family as our family.”

He called for a special offering for the family and presented a white envelope to Lopez after the service.

A stricken Lopez couldn’t find the words to talk.

“I can’t explain how it feels just to have Villaraigosa here standing next to me,” said Aldryn Lopez, 23, Suzie Pena’s uncle. “I’m feeling better than yesterday.”

Parishioners lined up to shake the hands of family members and hug them. Several said they mourned the toddler’s death, but felt conflicted about the shooting.

“I don’t know,” said Altha Stephens, 57, of South Los Angeles. “I just think the father was wrong for putting [the toddler] in front. But when they shoot at police, they make a statement.”

Dianne Fox, 46, said she was waiting for the results of the investigation before making a judgment on the case. But she did say she thought the police could have shown more restraint.

“Maybe the police should’ve used rubber bullets,” she said. “I know they were aiming because he shot first, but still he had a baby.... You have to treat a child as your own.”

Walter Serrano, 35, said he only heard about the shooting for the first time Sunday, and he said it broke his heart. “With the guy, OK,” he said, with a shrug. “But the little girl? It’s not right. It’s not the best way.”

The 2 1/2 -hour standoff that ended in Suzie Pena’s death took place at a car lot in South Los Angeles on July 10. Lopez’s 16-year-old daughter had called police saying that her stepfather, Jose Raul Pena, was threatening her. When police arrived at Pena’s lot and started talking to the teenager, Pena appeared holding Suzie.

He went inside his office and emerged with a gun and began shooting, police have said. During an exchange of gunfire, police helped the stepdaughter escape.

Believing Pena was wounded, a SWAT team moved in to get Suzie. But once they were inside, they realized that Pena had retreated to the interior office and was shooting at them through a wall.

The final confrontation was inside Pena’s office, where multiple shots were fired by both sides. One officer was wounded in the shoulder and Pena and the child were killed by police bullets.