The use of lethal force on a transgender woman who had reported being held against her will inside a Pacoima motel last year was not in line with Los Angeles Police Department policy, the board of police commissioners determined this week.
The department’s civilian oversight panel voted unanimously during Tuesday’s meeting that the shooting that killed 30-year-old Linda Becerra Moran, whose case has galvanized police brutality activists, was “out of policy.” The vote contrasted with LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell’s determination that officers had acted in accordance with policy in a case presented to the department’s force review board in October.
A call to the LAPD was not immediately returned on Wednesday.
Los Angeles police responded to a motel located in the 10000 block of San Fernando Road on Feb. 7 after receiving a call for help from Moran, according to a police report.
Moran, an Ecuadorean Spanish speaker, told the emergency dispatcher that she had been kidnapped. In the conversation, Moran is heard saying that a man in a different room was holding her against her will, and bringing other men into the room.
“I swear to you, I have no reason to lie to you. Lord Jesus Christ,” she is heard sobbing into the phone on video.
About 20 minutes later, two LAPD officers from the Foothill Patrol Division arrived at the motel. They requested Spanish-speaker assistance and two additional officers arrived, according to the police report.
Moran initially stated that she did not need medical assistance but had been bleeding due to a rape, according the police report.
Moran told officers that she didn’t know the whereabouts of the individual who assaulted her. She added that she also had a financial dispute with a motel employee, according to the police report.
Two officers suspected Moran was under the influence and was difficult to understand but presented no threat, according to the report.
They informed her that she could leave since no one was currently holding her against her will. A fifth officer, a sergeant, arrived and informed detectives that Moran was refusing a medical exam and treatment, according to the police report.
The situation began to spiral when one of the officers searched Moran’s motel room bathroom and found no evidence of a sexual assault, according to the police report.
That officer then asked Moran if she had a mental illness or was taking medication. Moran responded, according to the report, “No, I would like to die.”
An officer requested to examine her back for injuries, but Moran asked them not to touch her.
“No, if you guys were offering to help, I don’t want your help,” she yells at them in a video released by the department. “What’s she saying?” the supervisor asks.
The video shows her pushing a mini-fridge in the officers’ direction, before grabbing a kitchen knife and holding it to her neck, prompting officers to draw their weapons, the video shows.
She kept the knife at her throat the whole time, according to the police report.
Though police initially backtracked out of the room, Officer Jacob Sanchez discharged a single bullet that hit Moran as she moved from the back of the motel room to the front, according to the police report. After she was hit, Moran stepped back and fell onto the bed, according to the report.
Moran was taken to a hospital and died on Feb. 27 after spending weeks on life support.
In McDonnell’s report, he found that his officers followed police policy in the use of lethal force and the drawing and exhibiting of a weapon.
However, the tactics used by the officers received an administrative disapproval. Sanchez was unable to use his less lethal Taser because its battery had been drained. His partner also hadn’t tested his Taser’s capability in months.
It’s unclear what, if any, disciplinary action will be levied.
Generally, when an officer is found to have violated the department’s deadly force policy, the department launches a personnel complaint investigation.
Moran’s family has sued the city of Los Angeles, Sanchez and the LAPD for civil rights violations and negligence.
Soma Snakeoil, executive director of the Sidewalk Project, told The Times last year that Moran was “fleeing from sexual violence” at the time she was killed. The Skid Row nonprofit had worked to get her temporarily housed in local motels. But she never stayed in one place for too long, drifting between Westlake and Hollywood, according to Snakeoil.
“This has such chilling connotations for survivors in L.A. — if they’re afraid to call 911, if they’re afraid that police are going to shoot them when they call 911,” Snakeoil said.
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