Sherese Allen’s parents fear they will never see justice because the man accused of killing his daughter disappeared.
On the evening of October 17, police said Yang Yang, 21, was hovering on the beach with his SUV and was illuminated by the nearby Santa Monica Pier when he bumped into Allen, who may have been sleeping on the beach. The Sun was questioned at the scene and was eventually booked for suspected drunk driving and vehicle manslaughter.
Sherese Allen’s family says she is always attracted to California, especially the coast. “She felt relaxed there,” said her father, Antron Allen.
(From the Allen Family)
Los Angeles County prosecutors later raised the charge of murder, but for Allen’s family, there was little comfort.
The authorities lost track of him and issued a warrant for his arrest just days after relatives issued Sun’s $25,000 bond, freeing him from custody. He did not remove his passport or register an ankle monitor in court orders. Authorities say he may have returned to China.
“We haven’t got my daughter yet, he’s up,” Allen’s mother, Eugenia Tate, told The Times in an interview. “He really has no consequences for his work.”
An expert familiar with the extradition process said the Sun’s return to the U.S. court would take tremendous effort.
“I don’t want to sound like an impossible task, but that’s what they’re watching,” said David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor who has worked in several extradition cases in southern Florida.
Weinstein said fugitives returning from non-automated countries such as China will be very complex and involve the work of federal agencies and foreign diplomats.
Weinstein said whether the United States can ask for fugitives to travel abroad, but there is almost nothing else to do. He said it was unrealistic to involve scenes involving the Sun being expelled by China or the arrest of Americans who faced charges in Allen’s death.
When the Sun was first arraigned, prosecutors said they were worried he could escape, so they demanded a bail increase to $100,000 and asked the court to order him to wear an ankle monitor. But according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, his bail was set at $25,000.
It is not clear when the Sun will leave the United States.
“We will continue to seek justice for victims and their families and work tirelessly to demand responsibility for defendants,” the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “While our office can consult and provide information as needed, the extradition process is handled by federal agencies after the California court issued an extradition order.”
Allen’s family continues to grieve as they wait for development on the international front.
Her family said Sherese Moniqua Allen, or “re-” attracted to California, especially the coast, as her family said.
Her father, Antron Allen, said she saw endless possibilities in the Golden State and found shelter on the beach, like many others.
“She felt relaxed there,” he said. “She did not do anything to anyone. It was one of her comfortable places on the beach.”
Before she was determined, police said she was homeless. But Allen’s family said she lives in an apartment about two miles from the beach and serves as a customer service representative for the U.S. Postal Service.
Her parents said they plan to visit her last November, a comprehensive visit to Thanksgiving and her 35th birthday. Instead, they arranged her funeral.
“Some days are worse than others. We think of our daughter every day,” Eugenia Tate’s voice was filled with emotion.
Parents draw strength from friends, family, their Christian faith, and their daughter being an honest person and keep trying to do the right thing. Her family said Allen was usually shy, but if she was surrounded by the right people, she would sing, dance and joke.
When she was young, she once sang to her little sister Sha’nye.
A song is a particularly favourite song – the theme song of “Golden Girl” which includes the lyrics “Thank you for being a friend”.
“Why are you singing that song to a newborn baby that old lady?” her mother would ask.
Her daughter would smile and say, “Because it soothes her.”
On March 18, Allen’s family filed a claim against the city of Santa Monica, the predecessor of the lawsuit.
The family is seeking $10 million in pain and pain, funeral costs and other expenses incurred by Allen’s death.
The city did not respond to a request for comment.
