Family Sues Grocers Over Fatal Shooting
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The father of a 15-year-old African-American girl, shot to death by a Korean grocer, filed a $10-million lawsuit Friday against the store owner and her husband.
Filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by attorney Geraldine D. Green, the civil complaint alleges that Soon Ja Du, 49, intentionally shot Latasha Harlins in the back of the head shortly after the girl entered Du’s South-Central Los Angeles liquor store last month.
The Du family insists the shooting was an accident that occurred after Du and Latasha struggled over a backpack in which the girl had placed a bottle of orange juice without paying for it. A security camera videotape shows that Harlins approached the counter with money in her hand and was walking away from the counter when Du pulled out a .38-caliber handgun and shot her.
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