He shot an 18-year-old in the back of the head. A jury couldn’t decide if it was murder
Throughout the one-week trial of Eddie F. Gonzalez, prosecutors painted the former Long Beach school officer as a wannabe cop who wildly overreacted to a minor fight between girls and turned it into a lethal situation.
Gonzalez’s attorneys — defending him for shooting 18-year-old Manuela “Mona†Rodriguez in the back of the head as she fled the scene of the incident — called the 2021 killing a “tragedy, but not a crime.â€
But the jurors deciding Gonzalez’s fate deadlocked Tuesday, seemingly split not by the dueling narratives presented in court, but over whether the defendant was guilty of murder or manslaughter.
The jury had the option to convict him on the lesser charge if they determined he had killed Rodriguez in an act legally defined as “imperfect self-defense.†On Tuesday, seven jurors said they were ready to convict Gonzalez, 51, of murder, while five said they could only convict him of voluntary manslaughter.
Jurors asked on Monday whether if they could consider a charge of involuntary manslaughter, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard Goul said they could not.
Prosecutors could still choose to retry the case.
“While we are disappointed that the jury did not reach a verdict, we will carefully review the proceedings and consider our options moving forward,†Dist. Atty. George Gascón said in a statement. “Our commitment to seeking justice for the victim and their family remains steadfast.â€
Video obtained by The Times shows L.A. County probation officers standing by as a group of at least six teens beat another youth in Los Padrinos juvenile hall.
On the day of the shooting in September 2021, Gonzalez was responding to a report of a fight between Rodriguez and a 15-year-old girl outside of Millikan High School. The officer threatened to pepper-spray both girls, and after the brawling parties were separated, Rodriguez ran back to her boyfriend’s car.
Gonzalez ordered them to stop and ran alongside the car, but the vehicle’s tires began to screech as it drove away from the officer, according to video from the scene. Gonzalez fired two shots at the car, one when he was clearly standing behind the vehicle, striking Rodriguez in the head. She suffered severe brain damage and was taken off life support a week later, leaving behind a 5-month-old son.
“This defendant responded to youthful disobedience with deadly force,†L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Lee Orquiola said in his closing arguments. “He was the adult in this situation. He was supposed to be the responsible one. The one making the right decisions.â€
Prosecutors said several of their witnesses, including a girl who filmed the deadly encounter, could have been harmed by Gonzalez’s shots. Orquiola said Gonzalez should have simply taken a report and written down the license plate of the vehicle so Long Beach police could make an arrest later.
Instead, prosecutors said, Gonzalez acted recklessly and responded to a threat that didn’t exist.
“That first shot he is not in danger, at all, and he fires at close range,†Orquiola said. “Second shot, he’s even more out of the danger, that car is driving away and he fires again.â€
Video of the shooting drew widespread outrage and protests. Long Beach school officials moved quickly to fire Gonzalez, and then-Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia called on Gascón to immediately file charges against the officer.
Defense lawyer Michael Schwartz argued the entire incident lasted less than two seconds, too short of a window for Gonzalez to form the intent required to validate a murder charge.
While video clearly shows Gonzalez shooting from behind the car, Schwartz told jurors they had to put themselves in the officer’s shoes and criticized prosecutors for using still frame images and slow-motion footage to evaluate Gonzalez’s actions. Testimony at trial showed only .3 seconds elapsed between the two gunshots, and Schwartz argued his client was so close to the car that he had a reasonable belief he could be struck.
Giovanni Hernandez and Miguel Solorio were both convicted of murders they said they had nothing to do with as teenagers. Their efforts to be exonerated finally came to fruition on Wednesday.
“This didn’t happen in slow motion,†Schwartz said. “Life doesn’t happen in slow motion.â€
On Tuesday, Schwartz said it was time for the district attorney’s office to let the case go.
“At this point, a jury of 12 people heard all the evidence and did not convict,†he said. “It’s been 2.5 years since this incident, the civil case was settled. We’re hopeful that Mr. Gascón will let everyone move on.â€
Last year, the Long Beach Unified School District settled a wrongful-death suit filed by Rodriguez’s family for $13 million.
After spending decades as a cable repairman, Gonzalez began working in law enforcement in 2015 as a reserve Orange County deputy, his family said in court filings. He was hired by both the Los Alamitos and Sierra Madre police departments in 2019, but left both jobs within months. Officials with both departments would not say why.
Gonzalez did not testify at trial, so prosecutors could not inquire about his law enforcement history before he started as a Long Beach school safety officer.
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