Deion Sanders’ son, Shilo Sanders, has filed for bankruptcy in an apparent attempt to avoid liability for a nearly $12 million judgment from a Texas court over an incident in which he was accused of badly assaulting a school security guard in high school during an emotional tirade of terror.
While his brother Shedeur is sure to see that kind of money after he’s drafted in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft, Shilo is not as much of a sure thing for instant NFL glory. According to mockdrafthq, Shilo is expected to go in the fourth round.
Judge Holds Power In Shilo Sanders $12M Legal Battle
Last week, attorneys for the security guard and baseball coach John Darjean restated their case against Shilo Sanders in a new court filing, arguing that Sanders should be held accountable for his alleged assault on Darjean in 2015, when Sanders was just 15 years old.
“If Defendant (Sanders) is allowed to relitigate this matter, then Defendant is creating a new legal loophole to avoid responsibility when someone assaults another,” attorneys for the security guard wrote in bankruptcy court filings last week.
A federal bankruptcy judge could decide the matter in coming months and Sanders could be subject to debt collection efforts until he pays it all back.
It’s wild that this is still going on almost a decade later.
According to Darjean, the incident occurred when he tried — at Deion Sanders’ request — to prevent Shilo from using his phone during school hours, which was a rules violation. Shilo was allegedly a bully who was having a hard time dealing with his mom and dad’s divorce.
It was an explosive end to a day, he alleges, on which Shilo was terrorizing students and disrupting classes.
Something happened between Darjean attempting to enforce the rules, Shilo insisting on calling his mother and the altercation that ensued, which allegedly led to the security guard being hospitalized and in need of surgery.
Darjean Wins $12 Million Legal Judgment For Assault At Focus Learning Academy
The 2016 personal injury case, once litigated, led to an eight-figure legal judgment against Deion Sanders’ family including his son, Shilo, after an assault at the successor to Prime Prep Academy, Focus Learning Academy.
The incident would leave Darjean permanently disabled and financially impaired, despite winning a nearly $12 million settlement from the Sanders family. The attack left Darjean in the hospital for multiple days and required significant medical care, including spinal surgery.
The court issued a default judgment that said Sanders owed Darjean $11.89 million, including $3 million for future physical impairment and $2 million in lost future earning capacity.
The incident with Shilo cost medical providers more than $115,000 in medical care for Darjean at the time, and per court documents, made it difficult for Darjean to maintain gainful employment due to neurological injuries and damage to his spine.
Shilo Sanders Files Chapter 7 Bankruptcy To Get Massive Debt Erased
Shilo filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy last year in an effort to get Darjean’s debt collection efforts erased by the court, allowing him “to get a fresh start, free from the oppressive burden of his debts,” as the Sanders’ family attorneys have described it.
There are, however, exceptions in the law that would prevent the discharge of certain debts. One of them is if the debt stems from a “willful and malicious injury by the debtor.” Attorneys for Darjean said it was such an attack.
Since Shilo already has a judgment against him for assaulting Darjean, he is in a difficult situation if he wants to be relieved of the bill he owes.
Darjean’s attorneys also noted that Shilo Sanders had defended himself from Darjean’s lawsuit for years, playing the long game by making counterclaims in the case, filed affirmative defenses and testified in a deposition. In 2020, five years after the alleged assault, Sanders dropped his attorneys.
“By participating in litigation up until trial, and failing to show up to trial, Defendant is creating an out of responsibility for what amounts to a first-degree felony of aggravated assault,” Darjean’s attorneys said in court filings last week.
What Do Darjean’s Attorneys Want From Shilo Sanders?
Darjean’s attorneys are seeking a summary judgment ruling that will “determine that the claim of Plaintiff (Darjean) is excepted from discharge” under federal bankruptcy law.
If the judge agrees, Shilo would effectively lose his effort to discharge the debt and would be on the hook for the big bag, though he could appeal. If the judge doesn’t agree with Darjean, the matter could proceed to trial, where the facts of the case can be revisited and contested in court.
Deion Sanders downplayed the overall situation in July at Big 12 Conference media days in Las Vegas. Coach Prime has a ton of pressure entering this season, and this is nothing short of a distraction that has lingered for too long and doesn’t seem to have an end immediately in sight.
Related: “Shilo Is A Dog Man” | Deion Sanders Raves About Son Shilo Sanders’ Leadership And Practice Habits
“At the end of the day everybody is gonna know the truth about everything, you know,” said Shilo, Colorado’s leading tackler last season.
Colorado opens the season Aug. 29 at home against North Dakota State, and they need all of the Sanders boys focused, playing free and leading the way.
