Family of 18-year-old mom who was killed by school officer will get $13 million
The Long Beach Unified School District has settled a lawsuit over the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old mother by a school safety officer for $13 million, attorneys for her family said Monday.
On Sept. 27, 2021, Manuela “Mona” Rodriguez was shot by safety officer Eddie Gonzalez as she was sitting in the passenger seat of a moving car about a block from the campus of Millikan High School.
Rodriguez, the mother of a baby who was 5 months old at the time of the shooting, was left brain-dead for several days until she was removed from life support.
Rodriguez’s family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the school district in early 2022 alleging battery and negligence.
At a news conference Tuesday, Manuela Sahagun, Rodriguez’s mother, said she lost her best friend when her daughter died, and shared her grief that her now-2-year-old grandson will grow up without his mother.
The Long Beach Unified School District said it could not discuss details about the settlement because “we have not seen or ratified an agreement,” Chris Eftychiou, district public information officer, said Monday in a statement to The Times.
“Settlements like these include language that there is no admission of liability on the district’s part,” Eftychiou said. “However, we again share our sincerest condolences with everyone who was impacted by this terrible event.”
After the shooting, Gonzalez was fired by the district for violating its use-of-force policy and charged by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office with murder. Gonzalez, who pleaded not guilty, is awaiting trial.
California is the latest state moving to stop police officers who have committed serious misconduct from working for other agencies.
The incident, which was captured on videos, drew sharp criticism from law enforcement experts.
In one video Gonzalez can be seen approaching the passenger side of a car occupied by Rodriguez and the father of her child, Rafeul Chowdhury, then 20, and his 16-year-old brother, none of whom were armed.
Rodriguez and another girl had been involved in a fight that Gonzalez attempted to break up.
In the video, the car drives away, and Gonzalez fires twice at it.
“The car clearly was not a weapon, as it was moving away from him when he fired,” Charles “Sid” Heal, a retired L.A. County sheriff’s commander, told The Times in 2021.
“The car isn’t a threat, so there is no justification for the use of deadly force here,” Seth Stoughton, a former Florida police officer and a University of South Carolina law professor, told The Times.
“This case really illustrates the importance of holding public officials accountable,” Dist. Atty. George Gascón said in October 2021. “Especially public officials that are entrusted with the safety of our family and our kids.”
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