Editor,
News reports state District Attorney Wagstaffe wrote August 18 concerning the June 3 killing of 18-year-old Yanira Serrano that Deputy Menh Trieu’s action was justified because “the swiftness of her potentially lethal attack on the deputy precluded any possibility of handling threat in a less lethal manner.”
The deputy retreated 157 feet being pursued by Yanira who was obese and had “a birth defect causing her to limp” and then he fired one shot into her upper chest center from eight to 10 feet away.
We believe a well-trained law officer would avoid lethal force against a mentally disturbed and physically handicapped woman. He would have first fired a warning shot while covering 157 feet and at last resort would have aimed below her waist. Yanira would be alive today. It seems we have an epidemic of police killing American descendants of Latin and African and Asian heritage who are not criminals these days. Something is gravely wrong here.
When a law enforcement chief has not made sure officers avoid lethal force against mentally disturbed people, it seems we voters must remove the chief and demand our county board or our state legislators establish this principal in law.
Lamont Phemister
San Mateo
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.