LONG BEACH, Calif. — A former school safety officer pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter nearly three years after he fatally shot an 18-year-old woman as she tried to flee an altercation.
On Sept. 27, 2021, Eddie Gonzalez, who was employed by the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD), was driving a school safety vehicle about a block from Millikan High School when he came upon an altercation between Mona Rodriguez and a 15-year-old girl. After the fight was broken up, Rodriguez jumped in the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by her boyfriend. As it sped away, Gonzalez fired two shots, striking Rodriguez. Rodriguez was left brain-dead and was taken off life support on Oct. 6.
The Long Beach Board of Education soon fired Gonzalez for violating its use-of-force policy which states officers should not fire at a fleeing person, at a moving vehicle, or through a vehicle window unless “circumstances clearly warrant the use of a firearm as a final means of defense.” Gonzalez’s lawyers argued he feared for his life and acted in self-defense. Rodriguez was unarmed.
RELATED: How VCU Police Decreased Use-of-Force Incidents by 84%
Gonzalez was initially charged with murder in Oct. 2021 and pleaded not guilty in Dec. 2021. The case ended in a mistrial in April after seven jurors wanted to convict Gonzalez on the murder charge while five wanted to convict him on a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, NBC News reports.
Gonzalez pleaded no contest Tuesday to the voluntary manslaughter charge as part of a plea agreement, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
“We must hold accountable the people we have placed in positions of trust to protect us,” said District Attorney George Gascon. “That is especially true for the armed personnel we traditionally have relied upon to guard our children on their way to and from and at school.”
Long Beach Unified School District Reached Settlement with Victim’s Family
In April 2023, LBUSD reached a $13 million settlement agreement with Rodriguez’s family, Campus Safety previously reported.
Rodriguez’s mother, Manuela Sahagun, sued Gonzalez and the LBUSD in Dec. 2021 alleging wrongful death, excessive force, negligence, and civil rights violations.
RELATED: 1 Year After Implementation of Armed Officer Mandate, Texas Schools Still Struggling to Comply
In a statement, LBUSD said it negotiated terms of the settlement with Rodriguez’s family but that the agreement is not an “admission of liability.”
“The school district and its insurance carriers have been in negotiations on a settlement, but because we have not seen or ratified an agreement, we cannot discuss the details. Settlements like these include language that there is no admission of liability on the district’s part,” the statement said. “However, we again share our sincerest condolences with everyone who was impacted by this terrible event.”
Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 8. He is facing three to six years in prison.
