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According to a news release from the California Department of Justice, state prosecutors cleared the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot an unarmed mentally disabled person at the Valencia Mall two years ago.
Despite the state’s finding there is no sufficient evidence to justify the Deputy Lorena Gonzalez claim, the 27-page report released Wednesday provided the Sheriff’s Office with a set of policy recommendations on January 11, 2023, in connection with the murder of Christopher Mershulio.
Some of these proposals show improvements such as agent training, including expanded abdication policies and training agents to better identify people with mental health conditions, issued by the families of murdered men who were filed in lawsuits filed later last year.
In an emailed statement to The Times, Christian Contreras, one of the Mercurio family’s lawyers, lamented the state’s decision.
“Christopher Merclio was not a oppressive threat, but was tragically killed when he was armed and shot simply for trying to find a place to sleep at night,” Contreras wrote. “The Mercurio family is disappointed with DOJ’s resolve, but we look forward to the civil rights lawsuit against Los Angeles County.”
The Sheriff’s Department did not immediately comment, and the county has not yet responded to the federal court case.
The shooting comes after Gonzalez responded to a call for trespassing at Macy’s Department Store in the heart of Valencia town.
When Gonzalez arrived at the mall and approached Merclio, DOJ said he refused to leave and attacked his lieutenant in the head.
“Merculio continued to move forward towards Gonzalez’s Deputy Station and ignored the order to retreat,” DOJ wrote in a news release. “Slowly afterwards, the aide fired two shots at Mr. Mershulio, fatally wounding him.”
The family lawsuit accused the aides of failing to escalate the situation even after Merclio made confused comments about Iran and China and described it as “national security,” and denounced the department of allowing them to respond on their own instead of sending a mental health assessment team.
He can’t reach Gonzalez and it’s not clear if she has an attorney.
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