Mother of Toddler Killed in LAPD Shootout Files Claim

The mother of a 19-month-old killed by police during a shootout with her father has filed a claim accusing Los Angeles officers of causing the girl’s death by firing blindly during a rush to end a 2 1/2 -hour hostage standoff.

The claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, asks for monetary damages from Chief William J. Bratton and several of his top commanders, as well as “systemic changes” in the training and tactics of the Los Angeles Police Department’s SWAT team, one of whose members fired the rifle that killed Suzie Pena at her father’s Watts car lot.

The child’s father, Jose Raul Pena, held the girl in his arms while repeatedly firing on officers and civilians from inside his used-car business, police said. Pena also was killed when SWAT officers moved in to try to rescue the child, police said.

“We want justice. Justice means every officer involved in the tragedy must be disciplined and fired if necessary, and that goes for William Bratton,” said Luis Carrillo, attorney for the child’s mother, Lorena Lopez.

“I want justice for my baby,” Lopez told reporters at a news conference outside police headquarters Tuesday to announce the claim. Lopez said she did not blame her husband, who was under investigation for threatening family members, for her daughter’s death.

Minister Tony Muhammad of the Nation of Islam, who recently alleged that he was beaten by LAPD officers during an arrest at a vigil, said the shooting never would have happened in Bel-Air, and he asserted that it was a symptom of “the mind-set of white supremacy and racism -- where black life, brown life and people of color’s life have no value in this system.”

Lt. Paul Vernon said Tuesday that the Police Department does not treat ethnic groups differently. He declined to speak further, citing a policy against discussing pending litigation.

Bratton has insisted that Pena alone was responsible for the child’s death because he used her as a shield as he sprayed the neighborhood and officers with gunfire from inside the building. Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have named a board of inquiry to investigate the toddler’s death.

“Any suggestion that our officers were intentionally doing a lesser job is patently absurd and certainly not borne out by the history of SWAT in Los Angeles,” Bob Baker, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said in a statement.

The killing was set in motion when Jose Raul Pena’s 16-year-old stepdaughter called police to her father’s used-car lot, saying he had threatened to kill her. Police rescued the teenager from behind locked gates as Pena shot sporadically around the area. Eventually, Pena retreated inside the car lot building.

After 2 1/2 hours, an officer shot at Pena from the back of the building. Thinking he had been hit, officers entered, only to find that he had sought refuge in a small interior office. As they forced their way into the office, police said, one SWAT officer was wounded and Suzie and her father were killed.

Lopez’s claim singles out the SWAT team’s release of a flash-bang grenade during the final confrontation in the office as “a flawed tactic,” saying that because of the smoke, officers fired indiscriminately.

The claim says patrol officers and SWAT team members were receiving fire from one another during the confrontation, escalating confusion and tension.

The mother says police failed to consult the family or give negotiators or mental health professionals a chance to mediate with the “drugged and mentally disturbed” father, who was found with cocaine in his system and a bottle of tequila nearby.

Activist Morris Griffin told reporters Tuesday that the officers had failed to exercise good judgment. “If you can’t see a target, you can’t shoot a target,” he said, referring to the flash-bang.

The claim also alleges that the department spread false rumors that the stepdaughter was pregnant with Pena’s child to back Bratton’s contention that the family was dysfunctional.

The mother also accuses the department of trying to destroy evidence by moving Suzie’s body.

The LAPD has said officers moved the body because they wanted to save the child, but Lopez’s claim says her daughter visibly was beyond medical hope at the time.