Manuela “Mona” Rodriguez was shot on September 27, 2021, by safety officer Eddie Gonzalez as she was seated in the passenger seat of a moving vehicle a short distance from the Millikan High School campus.
Rodriguez, a 5-month-old baby’s mother, was shot, and she was declared brain-dead for a number of days before being taken off life support.
At the beginning of 2022, Rodriguez’s family filed a wrongful death case against the school district, accusing it of battery and negligence.
Rodriguez’s mother, Manuela Sahagun, voiced her sorrow during a news conference on Tuesday, saying that she lost her best friend when her daughter passed away and that her now 2-year-old grandson will have to grow up without his mother.
In a response to The Times on Monday, Chris Eftychiou, the district’s public information officer, stated that the Long Beach Unified School District could not comment on specifics of the settlement because “we have not seen or finalized an agreement.”
According to Eftychiou, “Settlements like these include language indicating there is no admission of liability on the district’s behalf.” Therefore, we want to express our condolences to everyone who was affected by this awful occurrence once more.
Gonzalez was charged with murder by the district attorney’s office in Los Angeles County after the killing and was fired by the district for breaking its use-of-force policy.
Gonzalez, who entered a not-guilty plea, is presently in court.
Law enforcement professionals were quite critical of the incident, which was documented on camera. Gonzalez can be seen in one video approaching the passenger side of a car driven by Rodriguez, Rafeul Chowdhury, the father of her child, who was then 20 years old, and his 16-year-old brother, who was not armed.
Gonzalez attempted to break up a quarrel between Rodriguez and another girl. Gonzalez fires twice at the car in the footage as it is driving away. Charles “Sid” Heal, a former L.A. County sheriff’s captain, told The Times in 2021 that “the car plainly was not a weapon, as it was going away from him as he fired.”
According to Seth Stoughton, a former Florida police officer and current law professor at the University of South Carolina, “The car isn’t a threat, thus there is no justification for the use of deadly force here.”
In October 2021, District Attorney George Gascón stated that “this case really underscores the need of holding public officials responsible.” “Particularly public servants who have our family’s and our children’s safety in their hands.”