Bexar County and its sheriff’s department recently came under fire in a lawsuit involving the shooting death of 6-year-old Kameron Prescott.
Two years after 6-year-old Kameron Prescott what shot and killed by Bexar County sheriff’s deputies, his family has decided to file a lawsuit against the county, Sheriff Javier Salazar, and four sheriff’s deputies in an effort to find out why the deputies felt the need to fire 18 to 20 rounds into the mobile home the child was residing in with his family.
The suit was filed on Monday by the child’s father, Christopher Prescott and his ex-wife, Rubi. When commenting on his son’s death, Prescott said, “It was like someone ripping my life away from me (because) my son was my life.”
As part of the suit, Prescott argues that his son’s civil rights were “violated and that unlawful police conduct caused his wrongful death.” According to the lawsuit, the shooting the resulted in the child’s death was “the culmination of a nearly two-hour pursuit of Amanda Jones, who was wanted on credit card fraud charges.” When a bounty hunter located her, he contacted the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office to report her location. However, when deputies arrived to apprehend her, Jones fled.
From there, deputies pursued her to the “Pecan Grove Mobile Home Park on FM 78 where she ran inside Prescott’s home looking for a place to hide.” At the time, Prescott was in the home with his niece and Kameron, who was playing in his room. When Jones entered his home, Prescott said he told her to get out. In response, Jones held up her hands and said, “You have kids and I do not want trouble.” She then walked out the front door and proceeded to be shot by deputies who had surrounded the home’s front porch.
Unfortunately, some of the rounds that were shot “went through the side of the mobile home,” hitting Kameron twice. He died en route to the hospital. According to Tom Crosley, the attorney representing Prescott, the child’s father didn’t even get a chance to help his son. Crosley said, “He heard his son saying ‘Ouch daddy. Ouch, it hurts.’” However, deputies were placing Prescott and his niece in handcuffs after the shooting. Crosley said, “They treated him as a suspect,” and by the time he was able to see his son, it was too late.
The suit names the county, Salazar, and the four deputies, Johnny Aguillon, George Herrera, Jesse Arias, and Johny Longoria as defendants. Crosley said the suit was filed “under a federal statute that protects civilians against unlawful police conduct.” He added, “We want to know what Bexar County sheriffs knew that day and when they knew it.”
When asked about the incident, Sheriff Salazar said his deputies “saw something in Jones’ hand that they thought was a weapon.” He added that at the time, “proper procedures were followed during the shooting and the deputies complied with the protocol and called Kameron’s death a tragic accident.”
However, Crosley said the bodycam footage from the shooting didn’t show anything that “would justify the deputies’ decision to shoot.” He added that at the time of the shooting, Jones was “wearing a sports bra and shorts and did not pose a clear and present threat.” One of the things the suit hopes to uncover during the litigation process is whether the deputies had adequate training and why they felt the need to fire so many rounds. When commenting on the suit, The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said the deputies’ “training hours have increased dramatically since December 2017.”
Sources:
Father of Kameron Prescott shares heartbreaking details of 6-year-old’s shooting death by deputies
Join the conversation!