UPDATE | The Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) has released the name of the officer involved in the April 23 fatal shooting of unarmed 19-year-old Hector Morejon in Cambodia Town, identifying him as Officer Jeffrey A. Meyer.
“Mrs. Morejon is happy they have released the name of the officer,” said the Morejon family’s attorney Sonia Mercado. “But they are still disheartened that they still do not have truth and transparency regarding their son.”
Attorneys for the family continue to seek the release of Morejon’s autopsy report as well as the 911 and dispatch calls made during the incident.
In an interview on May 2, LBPD Deputy Chief David Hendricks told the Post the autopsy was completed on April 28 and that reports typically take several months to complete—”anywhere from three to six, depending on the coroner,” he said.
Family and friends of Morejon are expected to hold a protest at 1:30PM Wednesday in front of the Long Beach Convention Center at 300 East Ocean Boulevard. One of the daughters of the late banda icon Jenni Rivera is also expected to attend, according to the Morejon family.
Mercado said the attorneys also plan to file a claim at the City Clerk’s office Wednesday in response to what they say is a lack of transparency from the city in providing information on the shooting.
Funeral services for Morejon are pending until the full cost of burial fees can be paid.
“This travesty is compounded and worsened when people don’t have family resources to be able to respond to a child that passes away,” Mercado said.
PREVIOUSLY: Officer Who Shot Unarmed Teen Hector Morejon Has Been Reassigned, LBPD Says
5/7/15 12:14 AM The Long Beach police officer involved in the April 23 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Hector Morejon in Cambodia Town has been reassigned to a non-field position until all investigations are complete, LBPD spokeswoman Megan Zabel said Wednesday. The Morejon family lawyers also confirmed the family received Morejon’s body on Tuesday, while the identity of the officer involved remains sealed.
The Long Beach police officer involved in the April 23 fatal shooting of unarmed 19-year-old Hector Morejon in Cambodia Town has been reassigned to a non-field position until all investigations are complete, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) spokeswoman Megan Zabel said Wednesday.
The status of the officer was first questioned in a statement released by the family of Hector Morejon on April 27, when they requested the LBPD “immediately release the name and badge number of the officer who is responsible for killing Hector who was unarmed.”
At a family vigil held last Friday, the family demanded the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office also release Morejon’s body. They said they were concerned that the return of the body was taking longer than expected after completion of the autopsy.
Attorneys for Morejon’s family confirmed that his body was released to family members Tuesday, though the department has not yet shared the identity of the officer who shot Morejon.
“We’re just happy when things get resolved,” said Susan Mercado, a lawyer for the family, regarding the body. She said no hold was placed on the body after all, a claim she asserted last Friday. However, she was concerned the department hadn’t released the name of the officer yet.
“I think all of this should be public record,” said Mercado. “I want to know where are all the dispatch calls? Was the officer wearing a camera? Do Long Beach police officers have cameras? What is the officer’s name and how many officers were involved in the initial incident?”
The LBPD’s refusal to share the officer’s identity has continued despite repeated requests by the Post, including an official Public Records Act request submitted this week. The LBPD’s silence comes just one year after a 2014 California Supreme Court ruling in a case involving the Los Angeles Times and the LBPD, which ruled that officer’s names in officer-involved shootings were a matter of public record.
In the ruling, officials were ordered by the court to provide the names of officers involved in the 2010 fatal shooting of Douglas Zerby, who was shot by police while holding a pistol-grip water hose nozzle, which police say they mistook for a gun.
That May, Assistant Long Beach City Attorney Michael Mais said the city would henceforth release names, except in cases involving specific and exceptional threats against an officer involved in a shooting.
Funeral plans have not been made public, and the family is continuing its fundraiser at GoFundMe.com to raise money for Morejon’s burial. As of 3:20PM Wednesday, $4,438 of the requested $13,600 had been contributed.
According to reports, officers had arrived at a residential multi-unit complex in Cambodia Town in response to reports of several subjects trespassing inside of and vandalizing a vacant residence. When looking through an open window, “The officer […] observed the suspect turn towards him […] while bending his knees, and extending his arm out as if pointing an object which the officer perceived was a gun.”
The police later reported that no weapon was found at the scene. Three other individuals were arrested on trespassing charges, and one individual was charged with trespassing and a gang injunction.