Manuela Rodríguez's family filed a request in Los Angeles County, California on Tuesday for charges to be filed against the school official who shot her in the head last week and caused her brain death.
The siblings of the 18-year-old, whom they called
Mona
and the
mother of a 5-month-old boy
, filed a formal indictment for Long Beach, California, school police officer Eddie González to be arrested and brought to trial for the tragic incident that ended the life of the teenager.
González is currently under administrative leave pending the results of the investigations.
While the family lawyer assures that
his actions merit charges of murder or reckless manslaughter.
Manuela Sahagún (center), the mother of 'Mona' Rodríguez, accompanied by her children and other relatives on October 1, 2021 outside the Long Beach Memorial Care hospital in California.Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
"We had her alive artificially because we wanted to give her last kisses, I just want justice and for them to lock up that person who killed my sister," Iran Rodríguez, older brother of the young woman shot, said at a press conference on Tuesday. who spoke to the media outside of the Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón's Office.
[Gabby Petito's boyfriend's sister breaks the silence: "I want answers"]
A
Mona
was diagnosed with
brain death
when interned in the hospital Long Beach Memorial Medical Center on Monday last week, after the school fired agent against the van in which he was traveling.
Last Friday, her family decided to disconnect her from the artificial respirator to donate her organs: “What my sister would have wanted is to help people like her who are suffering.
She would have liked to be a donor, ”her brother Iran Rodríguez said that day.
The guard who shot a young woman in California charged with unjustified use of lethal force
Sept.
29, 202102: 39
Her brothers confirmed on Tuesday that doctors are in the process of donating
Mona's
organs
to eight patients who were compatible with her blood type.
"Another family will have one more opportunity to fight, an opportunity that we did not have," said Óscar Rodríguez, another of the young mother's four brothers.
Last week,
Mona's
mother
told in an interview with Hoy Día that the school police officer had used expansive bullets when shooting her daughter, a type of ammunition more destructive than a normal bullet.
"That was what destroyed his brain,"
said the mother.
'Mona' Rodríguez, who was shot in the head by an agent, holds her 5-month-old son in her arms.
The young woman was allegedly involved in a fight with a 15-year-old student in a parking lot near Millikan High School around 3:00 pm local time on September 27.
[The young Latino who was shot by the police in California was not armed, according to video]
When Rodríguez tried to leave the scene in a gray truck along with another 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old teenager, Agent González drew his weapon and fired at them, fatally wounding the young woman, who was in the passenger seat.
As seen in videos on social networks,
the agent would have fired at least twice
.
'Mona' Rodríguez's family holds a press conference in Long Beach, California, on October 1, 2021. Long Beach Press / MediaNews Group via Getty Images
Although the authorities have not revealed the reason for the altercation between Rodríguez and the other teenager, they assured that the two knew each other and that Rodríguez started the fight.
One of the family's attorneys, Luis Carrillo, reported that Agent González violated the use of force policy of the Long Beach District School Safety Office,
which prohibits officers from shooting at a moving vehicle
.
The codes on the use of firearms also state that firearms can only be fired when reasonably necessary and justified by the circumstances, such as self-defense and the protection of others.
"This agent had no justification for using lethal force against Mrs. Rodríguez because she did not represent an imminent threat against him when he shot her," Carrillo wrote in a letter to Gascón that he delivered to his office on Tuesday.
"The unjustified use of force by this agent also meets the criteria for filing criminal charges against him for murder or reckless manslaughter," said Carrilló, who added: "It is a shame that anyone who had done this would already be in jail, but since he is a policeman, then he is not a prisoner ”.