Maran family not surprised by suit against LAPD
The parents of a 17-year-old girl accused of killing Santa Monica High School sophomore Deanna Maran have filed a wrongful death claim against the Los Angeles Police Department, alleging that detectives could have prevented their child’s death while she was in custody.
The claim, often a prelude to a lawsuit, was filed in the City Clerk’s office on behalf of the girl’s parents, Angelique Sarkissian Bernstein and Sarkis Sarkissian.
Their daughter, Katrina Ava Sarkissian, was being questioned by police on Nov. 18 when she passed out at the West Los Angeles Police Station. Police took Sarkissian and her 15-year-old half-sister into custody. They were detained for their role in the fatal stabbing of Maran, 15, the night before at a party in Westwood.
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office ruled in February that Sarkissian had taken an overdose of antidepressant capsules before she left her Brentwood home with detectives. The autopsy revealed that Sarkissian had 43 capsules of Nortriptyline, a prescription antidepressant — twice the average fatal dose.
The claim alleges that Sarkissian would have survived had the two detectives, Jim Hays and Kirby Carranza, immediately summoned paramedics when they were questioning her.
Sarkissian allegedly told detectives that she felt sleepy during the interview. Within 15 minutes, the teen collapsed unconscious in front of her half-sister, the claim said.
The claim alleges that Hays and Carranza thought Sarkissian was having a seizure and wondered how long it would last. However, Sarkissian’s half-sister told detectives her sister “doesn’t have seizures” and their mother, Angelique Bernstein, had told them that Sarkissian had been prescribed Nortriptyline, the claim said.
Sarkissian was transported to UCLA Medical Center about an hour after she was taken into custody. She was pronounced dead at 5:32 p.m.
“Hays and Carranza failed to determine directly or through summoning others, including drug recognition experts employed by LAPD, that Katrina was suffering the effects of a drug overdose,” the claim said. “Hays and Carranza made a medical decision which they were not competent or trained to make that Katrina had suffered a seizure.”
The parents decided to file the claim to meet a state-imposed, six-month deadline for filing the legal paperwork. The claim does not specify a damage amount.
Sarkissian’s half sister, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, was arraigned last month on a battery charge in Inglewood Juvenile Court. Police believe it was her scuffle with Maran that triggered the stabbing at the party.
After the scuffle, the girl allegedly kicked Deanna while Sarkissian allegedly stabbed Maran in front of the home where a 15-year-old boy hosted the party. Apparently, his parents were out of town.
According to eyewitnesses, dozens of people watched while the girls fought and older, college students prevented anyone from rescuing Deanna in attempt to watch the fight.
Meanwhile, Maran’s parents plan on filing a lawsuit against those responsible for their daughter’s death.
“We anticipate filing a civil lawsuit not later than next week against all of those whom we believe to be responsible for the death of Deanna Maran,” said Tony Glassman, an attorney for Ilja and Harriet Maran, Deanna’s parents.
Glassman said the Maran family is considering suing Sarkissian’s parents and the owners of the home where the unchaperoned party was held.
The Marans, who raised their four daughters and one son in their Santa Monica’s Ocean Park home, haven’t heard from the Sarkissians, the Bernsteins or the parents whose home was the scene of the party.
Harriet Maran said she is disappointed and disheartened that the girls’ parents refuse to accept responsibility for her daughter’s death and the circumstances of their children’s’ problems. The suit against the LAPD is just another example, she said.
“I wasn’t surprised,” she said. “I think it will just aggravate what their daughter is going through. I think it is poor judgment on the mother’s part to subject her daughter to more of an ordeal.”
The Bernsteins and the Sarkissians have declined to comment on the case, but their attorney, Gary Casselman, has said in the past that his clients have been cast in a negative light.
Los Angeles city attorney’s office spokesman Frank Mateljan said attorneys were reviewing the claim and had no comment Wednesday.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 16, 2002. Read the original PDF.