The family of Mikey Jimenez, a 14-year-old who was shot and killed by El Centro police officers last month, is calling for a law enforcement agency from outside the Imperial Valley to investigate the shooting.
The family’s demand comes after the department released a highly-edited compilation of videos from the body cameras of two officers last Wednesday, more than a month after Jimenez's killing.
On Oct. 5, Jimenez was behind the wheel of a white Hyundai sedan outside Volcano Asian Restaurant in El Centro when at least three police officers blocked the exit to the parking lot. The video shows the Hyundai turning the corner and moving towards the officers, who open fire within seconds.
In the video statement, El Centro police said their license plate reader surveillance system had flagged the Hyundai as stolen. They said officers were trying to prevent the car from fleeing and that Jimenez accelerated towards the exit with two officers in his path.
Jimenez’s family and their attorneys see the footage differently. At a press conference outside the restaurant Saturday, they said the young driver was moving to surrender and had already begun to slow down when police opened fire.
Officers, they said, made no effort to deescalate and instead fired at least 29 shots at the car.
“He didn’t deserve this,” said Alma Ureña, Jimenez’s mother, at a press conference outside the restaurant Saturday. “He was 14 years old. He was a little kid.”
The El Centro Police Department did not agree to an interview by KPBS’s deadline Monday.
Remembering Mikey Jimenez
As the rain poured down on Saturday, Jimenez’s family members and friends gathered outside Volcano Asian Restaurant remembered him as happy and energetic.
Julissa Moreno, Jimenez’s older sister, said he loved playing Fortnite with friends and cooking seafood, and was always trying to play his music when they drove together. Rafael Montaño, Jimenez’s uncle, said the 14-year-old was always full of life whenever he came over to visit.
Alma Ureña, Jimenez’s mother, said her son dealt with his own challenges. She and her attorneys said he was bipolar and had ADHD and depression.
“My son had some issues, and that made him make unsafe choices sometimes,” she said. “But that doesn't mean he had to die over this.”
Ureña said Jimenez spent a lot of time with his family. On the night he was killed, the two of them were at their home in Brawley watching a movie on Netflix with his baby brother Ivan. Half an hour later, Jimenez left to spend time with friends.
“And not even an hour later, he died,” Ureña said.
On Saturday, dozens of people marched over a mile from the restaurant to the El Centro Police Department down the road. They carried signs demanding justice for Moso, Jimenez's nickname.
Outside the police building, Montaño clasped his hands in prayer.
"Shouldn’t have somebody killed like that," Montaño said. "Moso was a little boy."
Jimenez is one of a disproportionate number of Latino people seriously injured or killed by police in California.
That’s according to a 2021 report by the Public Policy Institute of California, which found that Latino people made up 45% of all use-of-force incidents reported to the state, despite making up just 39% of the total population.
Seeking an outside investigation
The Imperial County District Attorney’s office is currently investigating whether to bring criminal charges against the officers involved in Jimenez’s death.
But Jimenez’s family and their attorneys are calling on California Attorney General Rob Bonta or a district attorney in another county to take over the investigation.
They said the district attorney in Imperial County, a rural region home to fewer people than most major cities in California, works too closely with police in El Centro to independently investigate the officers’ conduct.
“It's the same district attorney's office that they work with, day-in and day-out,” said Marcus Bourassa, one of the family’s attorneys, at Saturday’s press conference. “The fear is that if this is an in-house, inside investigation, we're going to get the expected results that there's no prosecution and therefore there will be no criminal justice.”
Gilbert Otero, a former-Imperial County District Attorney, pushed back on parts of that argument. In a phone call Monday morning, Otero said investigating police shootings is a core part of the DA’s job. But he did agree that it would be beneficial for the state to take over the case.
Gilberto Manzanarez, a former Calexico City Councilmember and an advocate with Valle Imperial Resiste, said he felt the Jimenez family’s concerns were justified. He said many law enforcement officers have close relationships in the region.
“Remember, we're a small community,” Manzanarez said. “All these people not only work with each other, but they live with each other outside of work.”
Manzanarez also pointed out that police, prisons and federal immigration agencies are major employers in the Imperial Valley. He said those economic dynamics have contributed to a strong culture of support for law enforcement.
“It feels like we're not allowed to express ourselves fully and criticize and hold accountable these law enforcement agencies because they feed us,” he said.
In a phone call Monday, Imperial County District Attorney George Marquez said he couldn’t comment on the details of the investigation, but said the state Attorney General’s office has already declined to take up the case. He said his office hasn’t discussed transferring the case to another county.
Bonta’s office did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Limited information disclosed
So far, the El Centro Police Department has only released limited information about the shooting.
The department’s edited compilation of the shooting is narrated throughout by police officials. The video pauses at one point to circle a visual element and does not include audio during other moments.
The compilation also does not include any footage from the body camera of the third officer, who police officials claim was directly in the path of the car when officers opened fire.
The department declined multiple requests from KPBS for the unedited body camera footage — first citing an ongoing investigation, then a state code for when police take minors into custody.
The El Centro Police Department’s own policy manual says not to fire toward a moving vehicle unless they have no other option.
“When feasible, officers should take reasonable steps to move out of the path of an approaching vehicle instead of discharging their firearm at the vehicle or any of its occupants,” the manual reads.
On Monday, in response to a request from KPBS, the department did release the names of two of the officers involved: Brandan Lopez and William Yu.
Yu has been involved in at least one other police shooting, according to records obtained by the Police Records Access Project.
In 2023, Yu was present when Officer Nathan Montalvo fired a less lethal shotgun at a person who was reportedly having suicidal thoughts. The shotgun round lodged inside the person’s chest, and they had to be taken to UCSD to have it removed.
