“She was like an angel.” – Ms. Licea

Valentina Orellana-Peralta was a kind, passionate, and caring ninth grader who passed away on December 23, 2021. She started at High Tech LA in the Fall 2021 semester and she would have been a part of the graduating class of 2025. Chile was her home before she moved to the States and very soon started to attend High Tech LA. As she improved her English skills, she was able to befriend many peers and continue to be a motivated student. 

In a Burlington shopping center, as she and her mother were shopping for clothes, a police bullet pierced her through the dressing room. She passed away in her mother’s arms.

The police were called over a man who attacked two women with a bike lock. Officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. fired his AR-15 three times, with bullets striking both the suspect and Valentina. 

Officer Dorsey Jones Jr. received a paid suspension. The LA Police commission found the first shot justified, but the last two unnecessary. Later, former police chief Michel Moore reviewed the shots fired and found them all to not be justified. 

In May 2026, the jury found Officer Dorsey Jones Jr. not liable for Valentina’s death on a verdict of 9-3. The lawyer sought $100 million in damages but it will not fill the hole their daughter left in their hearts. 

Valentina was a fairly shy person, but her warmth and kindness radiated a room. “I met her post-pandemic in class and instantly liked her”, a friend, Leilani says, “Even when we had masks covering our faces, you could still tell she was smiling”. 

She was an avid member of the Robotics team as Math was her favorite subject. As a first generation immigrant, her dreams were big; she hoped to do a lot in this country she deemed safe. Her ultimate goal was to build a robot. 

Valentina loved to skateboard and she always wanted a one, on Christmas 2021, her parents got her one that she never opened. In her free time, she participated in anime fandoms like “Haikyuu” as she really enjoyed playing volleyball. She frequently had K-Pop and various other boy bands playing on her phone. 

On Valentines Day 2022, every HTLA Advisory class wrote notes to Valentina on pink slips of paper and folded them into origami boats to send them off in the Balboa Park Lake for a few of Valentina’s close friends to let off the boats into the Balboa Lake waters, letting them drift through the small waves. 

Last year, in the 2025 graduation, an empty seat was left for Valentina, as she would have moved on to this next stage in life with the rest of her class. As much as she is now graduated, it is important to remember her, even if we did not know her personally. We had a memorial for Valentina in the hallway with her picture and the kind words of her peers, and in this next upcoming school year she will remain there. 

Valentina Orellana-Peralta will always be remembered in our hearts even long after she has graduated. It is important to honor her memory, and be the world she would have wanted to live in.