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A trans woman called 911 for help. Police shot & killed her.
March 12 2025, 08:15

A distraught trans sex worker was shot by police at a San Fernando Valley motel last month after she called 911 for help, claiming she had been kidnapped.

The incident was captured on officers’ body-worn video released Sunday by the Los Angeles Police Department.

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Linda Becerra Moran, 30, was admitted to an area hospital in grave condition on February 7. She died three weeks later after being removed from life support.

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Responding officers interviewed Becerra Moran in the motel room for several minutes before the shooting took place. She reported being struck in the head several times with a bottle, and cops checked her for evidence of injury.

Becerra Moran became agitated when officers expressed doubt about her claim. She moved toward a kitchenette at the back of the room and picked up a knife, holding it to her throat. A group of three to four officers drew their guns as a supervisor instructed them to move back.

Video shows a single officer — identified by LAPD as Jacob Sanchez, a four-year department veteran — at the doorway as Becerra Moran weaves through the empty room in his direction, knife in hand. Becerra Moran is about 15 feet from Sanchez when the officer shoots.

Becerra Moran paused where she stood near the bed and slowly fell across it.

The victim, originally from Ecuador, had no online presence and left few clues about how she ended up in the Valley motel.

In the 911 call, Becerra Moran is heard saying that a man in a different room was holding her against her will and bringing other men into the room.

“I swear to you, I have no reason to lie to you. Lord Jesus Christ,” she tells the 911 dispatcher, sobbing into the phone.

“Are they forcing you to do this?” the dispatcher asks.

“Yes,” Becerra Moran responds.

The dispatcher described Becerra Moran as a “danger to herself” ahead of the police response.

Kim Soriano, a researcher with the Sidewalk Project, a Skid Row nonprofit, encountered Becerra Moran on numerous occasions and recalled her independence.

“She was just determined to survive. She was very resilient; like she knew what she wanted and she knew what she liked and what made her comfortable,” she told The Los Angeles Times.

She described Becerra Moran as a devout Catholic, who carried around a five-pound statuette of the Virgin of Guadalupe in her battered suitcase.

“She told me that she carried it all around with her and it offered her protection,” said Soriano.

Becerra Moran said of the statuette, “Be careful with her, because she’s come a long way with me.”

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