With hundreds of demonstrators rallying outside of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in downtown e Los Angeles, the county Board of Supervisors awarded the family of a former Culver City Costco employee who was fatally killed by sheriffs’ deputies $5.3 million last month in a wrongful death civil suit.
José de la Trinidad, 36, who worked at the Costco on Washington Boulevard, was a passenger in his brother Francisco’s car when sheriff’s deputies attempted to detain them on the night of Nov. 10, 2012, in Compton. In their police report, the deputies claimed that they saw Francisco de la Trinidad pass his brother a gun and that was there probable cause for stopping them. José de la Trinidad got out of the car and was unarmed when deputies shot him seven times, including five in the back.
Although the deputies claimed they saw the deceased reach for a gun, witnesses came forward to counter that claim by stating that de la Trinidad had complied with the deputies commands to place his hand on his head.
The brothers had recently left a quinceaña party when police attempted to detain them.
An investigation in 2014 by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office stated the deputies “acted in self-defense and defense of another when they used deadly force.”
The family of de la Trinidad sued the county last year. De la Trinidad’s widow, Rosie, and his two children had sought $15 million.
“Without cause or provocation, the deputies fired their handguns at Jose de La Trinidad as he stood with his hands raised above his head,” the lawsuit stated. “The shooting was unreasonable and unjustified.”
Arnoldo Casillas, the attorney who represented the victim’s family, called the deputies “trigger happy.”
The settlement comes during a period where several unarmed men have been fatally shot by police across the nation or have died in police custody, prompting new debates about how police enforce the law in largely minority communities.
According to a county report on the settlement, a new investigation into the fatal shooting has been opened.
