Months after witnessing her father's murder, 7-year-old girl finally receives offer for counseling
After months of failing to get in touch with the right people to get a 7-year-old the proper counseling after she witnessed her father's murder, a Gardena family has finally received an offer for support.
Sammy Gutierrez said she vividly remembers the exact moment a bullet hit her father, killing him right in front of her.
"I saw it all happen," she said in Spanish. "I was aware of my dad. I saw when the bullet hit him. I saw everything."
The young child's father, 34-year-old fruit vendor Severino Gutierrez was shot and killed in Gardena during an attempted robbery on Aug. 4. In two languages, the child displayed her hope and pain.
"I think about him when I'm about to go to sleep," she said.
Her mother, said she'll often wake up crying, searching for her dad Severino.
"It doesn't make any sense, it really doesn't," said Gutierrez. "I think my dad is watching me because he's up there and I have some of my family members up there. I think God takes the good people."
As she continues to process the horrifying events, the adults in her life continue to worry. Gutierrez's mother said that she applied for victims counseling services two days after the shooting through the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office including counseling for her young daughter.
"It's Adriana, which is the wife, who has been calling and just basically getting voicemail after voicemail," said street vendor advocate Edin Enamorado. "It's been over three months, almost four months ago coming in December, where Sammy has not received any sort of therapy. She's having a lot of crying episodes, traumatic episodes."
Enamorado said that he had even gone to the office with the family looking for answers, but to no avail.
"We've tried to get the help and we keep getting the runaround," he said. "My girlfriend has called. We have called."
Enamorado is worried that long process could take a toll on the 7-year-old Guiterrez.
"i think they forgot about us," she said. "They forgot about us."
The family is also trying to work with the school district to get counseling for Guiterrez started as soon as possible.
As of Monday night, the District Attorney's Office had not responded to requests for comment.
However, on Tuesday, the family reported that after two separate CBS reports aired both over the weekend and on Monday evening, the Gutierrez family was finally reached out to by the DA's Office, offering counseling services for Sammy.
Tanisihia Wright, the Director of the District Attorney's Offices Bureau of Victim Services, said that there are allegedly records showing that the family did get a list of counselors, but it's not immediately clear what happened after that.
"As far as misinformation or what happened, I don't know if we can necessarily say exactly what happened," she said. "The facts are, that we have a beautiful family that is suffering a tremendous loss that have not had access to therapy services yet."
She personally called the family on Tuesday to ensure that services are offered as soon as possible.
"She definitely should've had therapy immediately," Wright said. "Her road and healing process is gonna be a long one. She's gonna need a lot of love and a lot of support, to say the least."
Speaking with CBS again on Tuesday, Sammy said that she's heard the adults in her life talking about therapy often, and she's hopeful that it can help her.
"I hope that I feel better," she said.
