The family of a man shot and killed by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy in Valencia nearly two years ago is suing the department.
The case, first reported by Seamus Hughes Forensic Watch, is one of the few cases filed on Christmas Day, when Christopher Mercurio was arrested at the Westfield Valencia Town Center Mall on January 11, 2023. claims that the murder was unnecessary.
Mercurio’s family also argued that the two shots fired by Deputy Lorena Gonzalez amounted to “unreasonable and excessive force” on a person with mental health issues.
Gonzalez was there that night to check on Mercurio, who had allegedly trespassed at the mall, but body camera footage shared by police shows the situation quickly escalated.
Body camera footage from the Valencia shooting shows a man instructing a LASD deputy to shoot him.
The family says Mercurio’s comments at the time “didn’t make any sense,” and the video shows Mercurio lunging at Gonzalez and ordering him to shoot him.
Gonzalez fired at Mercurio, hitting him twice, ultimately killing Mercurio.
His family is seeking “judicial remedies and monetary damages for these constitutional violations.”
LASD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
