A lawsuit filed by a detective from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) revived the case of the death of Amelia Salehpour, an 18-year-old girl whose death was officially attributed to an overdose, but which, according to the investigator, would have been a homicide that was not allowed to be clarified.
According to a publication by Los Angeles TimesDetective Alexander Tan sued the city of Los Angeles, claiming he suffered retaliation for refusing to drop the investigation into Salehpour’s death and for reporting an alleged cover-up attempt within the department.
The lawsuit, filed on July 7 before the Los Angeles County Superior Court, maintains that Tan and his then partner, Detective Jose Verdin, found indications that the young woman died from strangulation and not from an overdose, as the authorities initially concluded.
According to the court document, when both investigators reported their findings to their superiors, the investigation lost resources, the anti-drug unit was dismantled and the detectives were separated by transfers to different units.
Tan claims that senior officials ordered him to stop investigating the case and cut off all communication with the victim’s family. In addition, they report that their work schedules were changed, they were denied overtime, and other disciplinary actions were taken to stop the investigations.
The detective maintains that the Los Angeles Police Department tried to prevent the case from being reclassified as a homicide to avoid a possible lawsuit from the family for an alleged negligent investigation.
The controversy also involves Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Ranna Jahanshahi, who filed a retaliation lawsuit after reporting alleged irregularities during the investigation. According to his legal action, he faced a hostile work environment after attempting to pursue criminal proceedings.
The Los Angeles Police Department told Los Angeles Times which does not comment on pending litigation. The city attorney’s office also did not comment on the case.
Death under investigation
Amelia Salehpour was found dead in July 2023 in a home in Van Nuys, a sector that the Police identify as an area linked to human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
The medical examiner’s office concluded that the young woman died from a combination of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.
However, the family maintains that the scene was manipulated to simulate an overdose. A private autopsy contracted by his parents would have found signs of strangulation, according to another civil lawsuit filed against the city of Los Angeles.
Last year, a prosecutor filed murder charges against seven people based on evidence collected by Tan, Verdin and private investigators hired by the family, although the case was later dismissed.
The Salehpour family maintains several civil lawsuits against the city of Los Angeles, while authorities maintain that the original classification of the death was correct and deny any wrongdoing during the investigation.
The lawsuits by Tan, Verdin and Jahanshahi keep the controversy alive and once again place the Los Angeles Police Department’s actions under scrutiny in one of the most questioned cases in recent years, according to Los Angeles Times.