Los Angeles County is ready to pay almost $ 2.7 million to a teenager whose violent beating in a youth room launched an exhausting criminal investigation into the so -called “gladiator fights” within the problematic facilities.
Video of the December 2023 BeatingCaptured in CCTV, he showed José Rivas Barillas, then 16 years old, being beaten by six minors in Juvenile Hall sponsors while the probation office was left without idleness. Each young man attacked Rivas Barillas for a few seconds before returning to breakfast. Two officers, later identified as probation officials of Long Data Taneha Brooks and Shawn Smyles, laughed and set their hands, encouraging the fight.
“What made this unique is the video,” said Rivas Barillas lawyer, Jamal Tooson, who said his client suffered a broken nose and a traumatic brain injury. “The entire world could witness the brutity that takes place with our children at the hands of the Los Angeles County Department of County.”
The video, first informed by Times, caused a criminal investigation by the office of the State Attorney General, which he later accused 30 probation officers – including Brooks and Smyles, allowing and encouraging fights among adolescents within the youth halls of the County. California Atty. Gene. Rob Bonta referred to the coordinated Brawls as “Fladiator Fights” and said that the CCTV review of his office had increased 69 of those fights doing the Chaotic first six months After the hall opened in July 2023.
The images obtained by the Times show a December 2023 incident in which employees can allow at least six young people to hit and kick a 17 -year -old.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will vote if it will approve the agreement of $ 2.67 million to Rivas Barillas and his mother, Heidi Barillas Lemus.
In accordance with an audience summary Of the “Corrective Action Plan” that the Department of Probation must produce before a great agreement, the officials did not review the CCTV video of the fight and waited too much to transport the adolescent to a hospital and notify their family.
CCTV monitors are now “attended routinely”, and officials are working on random audits of recordings, according to the plan. A spokesman for the Department of Probation did not respond to a request for comments.
Immediately after Rivas Barillas arrived at the Downey Children’s Hall, Brooks demanded to know the affiliation of his gang, according to the claim filed before the county. Brooks said he had heard that Rivas Barillas, who is Latin, was from the gang “Canoaga” and that she “hoped she could fight” before leading the other minors, all of which were black, attacking him in the day of days, the claim state.
After the video reached the headlines, the adolescents accounts bound by the probation officers to fight have left the godparents. A finger of the foot He told The Times In March, the godparents officers rewarded him with a “reward” of fast food, Jack in the Box, McDonald’s-if hit the children who mouse. The teenager, who had previously housed in the same unit as Rivas Barillas, said that the employees would also organize fights when Oneone arrived, who was affiliated with a gang that did not get along well with the young people inside.
“We have a new child, he is from the hood. We have other hoods here. We are going to get all the fights,” he said at that time. “They were just configuring it to control the situation.”
Another teenager, identified in judicial presentations such as John (Lohjk) Doe, alleged in a lawsuit filed in February that shortly after reaching the godparents in 2024, he was escorted by an officer to the day room. The officer, identified only by the last name Santos, told a young man inside the day room that “you have eleven (11) seconds” and observed how young people did, according to the demand.
On another occasion, the same officer threatened the pepper spray if he did not fight another young man for 20 seconds. The teenagers who fought were rewarded with additional television and more time outside their cells, the demand alleged.
After the teenager told an officer on the two coordinated fights, he was transferred to lone confinement, he alleged the demand.
