She was run over next to the Santa Monica Pier. Finding justice may be ‘mission impossible’
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Sherese Allen’s parents are worried they’ll never see justice, because the man accused of killing their daughter has disappeared.
On the night of Oct. 17, police say 21-year-old Yuyang Sun, a Chinese national, was doing circles with his SUV in the sand, illuminated by the nearby Santa Monica Pier, when he ran over Allen, who may have been sleeping on the beach. Sun was questioned at the scene and ultimately booked on suspicion of drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter.
Los Angeles County prosecutors later elevated the charge to murder, but for Allen’s family, that has been little consolation.
Just days after a relative posted Sun’s $25,000 bond, releasing him from custody, authorities lost track of him and issued a warrant for his arrest. He did not turn over his passport or register for an ankle monitor as he was ordered to by the court. Authorities say he may have returned to China.
“We hadn’t got my daughter yet and he was already up and gone,” Allen’s mother, Eugenia Tate, told The Times in an interview. “He really had no consequences for what he did.”
It would take a monumental effort for Sun to appear back in a U.S. courtroom, said one expert familiar with the extradition process.
“I don’t want to sound like it’s mission impossible, but that’s what they’re looking at,” said David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor who has worked multiple extradition cases in the Southern District of Florida.
About 11:30 p.m. Thursday, first responders rushed onto the sand near a Cirque du Soleil Kooza set up on the beach to try to free a person trapped under a silver SUV, according to KABC.
Weinstein said getting a fugitive to return from a non-extradition country such as China would be extremely complicated and involve the work of federal agencies and foreign diplomats.
The United States can ask to be alerted if a fugitive travels abroad, but there’s little else that can be done, Weinstein said. Scenarios that involve Sun being expelled by China or Americans going in to arrest him to face charges in Allen’s death are both unrealistic, he said.
When Sun was first arraigned, prosecutors said they were concerned he could flee, so they asked for his bail to be increased to $100,000 and for the court to order him to wear an ankle monitor. But his bail was set at $25,000, according to court records.
It’s unclear exactly when Sun left the United States.
“We will continue to seek justice for the victim and her family and work tirelessly to hold the defendant accountable,” the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said in a statement. “While our office may consult and provide information as needed, after a California court issues an extradition warrant, the extradition process is handled by federal agencies.”
While Allen’s family waits for a development on the international front, they’re continuing to grieve.
Sherese Moniqua Allen, or “Rese” as her family called her, was always drawn to California — especially the coast, her family said.
After Summer Wheaton left a Fourth of July party at Nobu Malibu, she crashed her Mercedes-Benz into another driver.
Like so many others, she saw endless possibilities in the Golden State and found sanctuary at the beach, her father, Antron Allen, said.
“She felt at ease there,” he said. “She wasn’t out there doing any harm to nobody. That was one of her comfortable places, out there on the beach.”
Before Allen was identified, police said she was homeless. But Allen’s family said she lived in an apartment about two miles from the beach and worked as a customer service representative for the U.S. Postal Service.
Her parents said they were planning to visit her last November, a combined visit for Thanksgiving and her 35th birthday. Instead, they arranged her funeral.
“Some days are worse than others. We think about our daughter every single day,” Eugenia Tate said as her voice broke with emotion.
The parents draw strength from friends, family, their Christian faith and the knowledge that their daughter was an honest person who always tried to do the right thing. Allen was usually shy, but if she was surrounded by the right people, she would sing, dance and make jokes, her family said.
When she was younger, she used to sing to her baby sister, Sha’nye.
A father and daughter who were injured when a driver allegedly plowed through an Inglewood CarMax in a rage are taking legal action against the driver and dealership.
One song was a particular favorite — the theme song to “The Golden Girls,” which includes the lyrics, “Thank you for being a friend.”
“Why are you singing that old lady song to a new baby?” her mother would ask.
Her daughter would laugh and say, “Because it soothes her.”
On March 18, Allen’s family attorney, Elise Sanguinetti, filed a claim against the city of Santa Monica, a precursor to a lawsuit.
The family is seeking $10 million for pain and suffering, funeral costs and other expenses stemming from Allen’s death.
The city did not respond to requests for comment.
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