A California school police officer who fatally shot a teenage mother has been sentenced to three years in prison, but he walked free because he had already served the time in custody.
Eddie Gonzalez, 54, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter on Aug. 20 after jurors could not reach a verdict on the murder charge in his trial over the Sept. 27, 2021, shooting in Long Beach, which was captured on video.
The now former Long Beach Unified School District public safety officer shot Manuela “Mona” Rodriguez, who was 18 at the time, as she sat in the passenger seat of a moving vehicle about a block from Millikan High School.
Their car, driven by her boyfriend Rafeul Chowdhury, was fleeing a fight with a 15-year-old girl Gonzalez had been present with.
Rodriguez died days later after being declared brain dead and taken off life support. About a month later, Gonzalez was charged with murder. That charge was dismissed Tuesday as a result of his plea.
Manuela “Mona” Rodriguez (pictured with her son Isael), who was 18 at the time, was shot by Gonzalez as she sat in the passenger seat of a moving vehicle fleeing a fight about a block away from Millikan High School in Long Beach, California
Eddie Gonzalez (pictured right), the former school police officer who shot and killed a teenage mother, was sentenced to three years in prison, but he walked free because he had already been in custody for some time
Gonzalez cried in court as the verdict was read, and he walked out after the sentencing surrounded by family and friends.
Rodriguez’s heartbroken mother, Manuela Sahagun, said she felt like she “didn’t get justice” and feared “it could happen to another family,” according to ABC7.
Through a Spanish interpreter in court, she made an emotional statement saying her pain “will never go away.”
Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s brother Oscar said he felt “disgusted,” “saddened” and “heartbroken” over his sister’s murder.
He added that his own “dream of becoming an officer has been crushed.”
“Losing my sister the way I lost her was devastating,” he told the judge. “I just want justice for my sister. I miss my sister every day.’
Rodriguez’s friend Chowdhury, who was driving the car the day she was shot, said he went to court to “get justice for the mother of my baby.”
He added that Gonzalez “shot the person who would become my future wife.”
Gonzalez (pictured center) cried in the courtroom as the verdict was read, and walked out after the sentencing surrounded by family and friends
The moment a teenage mother was shot in the back of the head by a school safety officer was captured on cellphone video and posted to social media
The 18-year-old was left brain dead after being shot in the back of the head by a school security officer as she tried to flee a fight
Mona died after doctors took the 18-year-old mother off life support
Gonzalez’s friend Randy George defended him in court, saying he “just wanted to help people” in his law enforcement role.
“This man was heartbroken when he found out what happened,” George said in an emotional statement. ‘This man has been through hell. He doesn’t deserve this.’
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard M. Goul said Gonzalez was “not driving” the tragic incident.
Goul said Gonzalez intervened to stop an attack on a female high school student, and that he was “doing his job” when he tried to stop Rodriguez’s vehicle.
On the day of the shooting, Rodriguez was in the passenger seat of the car and her then-20-year-old boyfriend Chowdhury was driving.
His younger brother, Shahriear Chowdhury, 16, was also in the vehicle when Gonzalez opened fire, but no one else was hit.
Rafuel told police that no one in the car was armed at the time of the fatal shooting and told reporters that “it was all for no reason.” Their son Isaac was five months old at the time.
Rodriguez was reportedly not enrolled in high school at the time of the altercation.
In September 2019, Gonzalez (right) took another job as a police officer with the City of Sierra Madre in Los Angeles County, which ended in July 2020. A department spokesperson said they “chose to divorce him” but would not do so. make no further comment
Mona Rodriguez (pictured) was declared brain dead after the September 27 shooting and died after being taken off life support, her family said
A video of the shooting was posted online and appeared to show the security officer breaking up a fight between Rodriguez and another girl.
When Rodriguez got into the car with her boyfriend and wanted to drive away, Gonzalez fired at least two shots. At least one bullet pierced a window of the car.
After the mother’s sudden death, her heart, liver, lungs and two kidneys were harvested for donation to five people in need of transplants, according to a statement from Rodriguez’s lawyers.
The city of Los Alamitos confirmed that Gonzalez worked for the department from January 8, 2019 to April 8, 2019.
Video footage showed Gonzalez being sworn in as a new police officer by Los Alamitos Police Chief Eric Nuñez in February 2019.
In his introduction, Nuñez said Gonzalez was born in Los Angeles and served in the Marine Corps.
In September 2019, he took another job as a police officer with the city of Sierra Madre in Los Angeles County, which ended in July 2020.