Although a judge previously dismissed most of a consolidated lawsuit brought by relatives of two El Monte police officers fatally shot by a felon in 2022, she is now being asked to approve a $500,000 tentative settlement involving relatives of one officer with the owners of the motel where the shootings occurred.
In her previous ruling, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anne Hwang said family members of the late Officer Joseph Santana provided no evidence that a breach of a mandatory duty on the part of Los Angeles County, its district attorney and its Probation Department was a "proximate cause" of the officers' deaths. Those defendants were dismissed from the case in January.
Santana and Officer Michael Paredes responded to a report of a stabbing on June 14, 2022, at the Siesta Inn, where Justin Flores was staying with his wife. The relatives also sued the motel.
In new court papers filed with Hwang, the proposed settlement with the Siesta Inn would provide $150,000 for Santana's widow, Sasha Santana; $100,000 each for their two twin sons, who turned 4 on Wednesday, and their 11- year-old daughter; and $25,000 each for the officer's parents. The judge's approval is needed for the accords involving the children because they are minors. A hearing is scheduled for May 2.
The Santana sons and daughter have been deprived of their father's "love, companionship, support, society, comfort, care and affection" for the rest of their lives, the family attorneys' court papers state.
The suits by families of Santana and Paredes were consolidated last August and named Los Angeles County, District Attorney George Gascón and his office and the county Probation Department. The claims included wrongful death, negligence and breach of a mandatory duty, as well as negligence by the motel. The Paredes family also has tentatively settled with the motel for a total of $500,000, but that accord is not part of the May 2 motion, according to the plaintiffs' attorneys' court papers.
Flores, 35, was placed on probation in a plea deal in 2021 after he was arrested in 2020 for being a felon in possession of a firearm and methamphetamine. Even though Flores had a prior felony conviction for burglary, Gascón issued a directive barring the prosecutor handling Flores' case from filing a strike allegation against him, the suit stated.
In doing so, Gascón disregarded California's "three strikes" law, which requires prosecutors to plead prior known strikes, the suit stated.
The plaintiffs' attorneys maintained that if Gascón had followed the law, Flores would have been sentenced to prison. After being put on probation in March 2021, Flores was only seen by his probation officer once -- although he was supposed to have monthly check-ins -- and Probation Department members never initiated a desertion proceeding as their own policies required, which would have forced a probation revocation, the suit stated.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
On June 2, 2022, the probation officer completed a phone check-in with Flores after learning he was in illegal possession of a gun and had beaten a woman, but Flores did not show up for an appointment four days later and his probation officer never reported the information to law enforcement, the suit stated.
The probation officer filed for a revocation of Flores' probation a day before the shootings, but Flores was not taken into custody, the suit stated. Flores died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok