The gun was locked in a safebox.
But on Dec. 17, 2019, Aiden Smith, the son of two divorced Los Angeles police officers, guessed the code: his mother’s birth year, according to court records.
The 15-year-old took out his stepfather’s gun and fatally shot himself.
It was the second time Aiden, who told doctors he was suicidal and plagued by hallucinations of demons, had found a gun in the La Crescenta home his mother shared with his stepfather, also an LAPD officer.
That November, Aiden had come across his mother’s LAPD-issued gun under some clothes in a closet, leading a therapist to make a report of neglect to the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services.
On Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors, which oversees DCFS, agreed to pay a $495,000 settlement to Aiden’s father, Johnny Smith, and his older sister, Reily.
The Smiths, who sued both the county and city in 2022, argued that DCFS caseworkers and the LAPD should have ensured that Aiden could not get access to another gun.
“This case is about firearm safety, especially when it comes to firearms that are in possession of law enforcement,” said Steve Vartazarian, a lawyer representing the Smiths. “They have the same responsibilities as private citizens to keep the firearms safe.”
Vartazarian said negotiations with the city of Los Angeles are still ongoing. Both the LAPD and DCFS declined to comment on the specifics of the case.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family members and friends mourning the loss of this young person,” DCFS said in a statement. “It is our sincere hope that all those affected by this tragedy find healing as they move forward.”
The D.A.’s office declined in 2020 to bring charges against Aiden’s mother, Amira Eppolito, for criminal storage of a firearm and child abuse, according to records from the office. Investigators concluded that Eppolito took “the situation seriously” when she learned her son was suicidal and that leaving her gun unsecured was not typical for her.
Johnny Smith is an LAPD captain who in 2021 filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that he was demoted and transferred in retaliation for voicing concerns about the Mission Division’s troubled gang unit.
His “whole world had been turned upside down” by Aiden’s death, he wrote in a 2021 declaration in his lawsuit over the suicide.
”I realized that the systems that have been put in place failed my son,” he wrote.
Multiple agencies had been alerted that Aiden was suffering, according to court documents.
At the urging of his son’s psychiatrist, Smith brought Aiden to a Rosemead mental health facility a week before Thanksgiving in 2019.
After reporting that he was hallucinating and had looked for — and located — a gun in his mother’s home, Aiden was hospitalized for about a week. A therapist made a report to the county of “general neglect due to access to a weapon,” according to the Smiths’ lawsuit.
Johnny Smith said in a deposition that around that time, he told a commander at the LAPD that his son had found an unsecured gun and that he was “under the impression” that it would be reported up the chain in the department.
“I remember him being very kind and said, ‘Look, man, you’ve just got to remind your son that you love him and that you’re there for him. You know, don’t worry about any of this other stuff. We’ll take care of it,’” Smith recounted in the deposition.
On Nov. 29, a few days after Aiden was discharged from the hospital, someone he had been chatting with on Discord called a nearby sheriff’s station and said that the teen had threatened to kill himself if his girlfriend broke up with him, according to the records from the District Attorney’s office. Sheriff’s deputies interviewed Aiden, who told them he had been joking.
One week later, a DCFS social worker went to the home and interviewed Aiden, according to legal filings. The social worker determined that Aiden was “not in immediate danger of serious harm” and that all the guns were locked in a safe.
The social worker was assured by Aiden’s mother that none of the children living in the house knew the combination of the safe, which was hidden under clothing in a closet, according to records from the District Attorney’s Office. Aiden told the social worker that he was feeling better and had taken his medication.
Aiden killed himself two weeks later. His phone history showed he had been trying to figure out his mother’s birth year based on her age and had also researched how to pick a lock.
The sheriff’s department, which investigated the suicide, determined that the gun was privately purchased and registered to Aiden’s stepfather, Eric Eppolito, according to a filing from the city attorney’s office.
Vartazarian disputed the finding and said the gun was issued by the LAPD.
Suicide prevention and crisis counseling resources
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, seek help from a professional and call 9-8-8. The United States’ first nationwide three-digit mental health crisis hotline 988 will connect callers with trained mental health counselors. Text “HOME” to 741741 in the U.S. and Canada to reach the Crisis Text Line.