Deion Sanders calls for reporters to do 'a whole, complete investigation' into son Shilo's assault charge

As Colorado safety Shilo Sanders wades through the messy waters of a bankruptcy case stemming from a court ordering him to pay $11.89 million to an alleged victim of a 2015 assault, Colorado is doing its best to distance itself from the proceedings.

Sanders is a talented safety on the team and the son of head coach Deion Sanders, so naturally his case has drawn added scrutiny.

The head coach addressed the potential distraction at the Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday.

“Shilo’s great. What distraction?” Sanders told a reporter. “Shilo’s good. You know what I want you to do? I want you to do this for me. I want you to do your homework and do a whole investigation on that. And then write that. I mean a whole, complete investigation of what truly happened.”

As the reporter attempted to produce some sort of a rebuttal, Sanders slipped in one more time.

“Did you know Shilo won?” he said.

The case is a touch more nuanced than that. While Sanders did win certain elements of a motion to dismiss the case brought against him by the alleged victim, John Darjean, other parts of the case were left intact.

That means the case, in part, continues to proceed.

Sportico has a detailed write-up on the legal proceedings, which is worth your time if you’re interested in a fairly complete investigation of the situation, as Sanders suggested.

Background on Shilo Sanders bankruptcy case

Colorado safety Shilo Sanders disclosed just shy of $325,000 worth of assets to his name in a December 2023 bankruptcy case related to an $11.89 million dollar judgement against him stemming from an assault when Sanders was in high school, according to Westword.

And that filing raises questions about Sanders’ NIL earnings.

The bankruptcy proceeding itself stems from Sanders losing a judgement in 2022 after allegedly assaulting a security guard as a high schooler in 2015.

A suit filed in Dallas District Court in 2016 alleged the security guard, John Darjean, had “sustained severe and permanent injuries including a broken neck, damage to his cervical spine, permanent neurological injuries and irreversible incontinence,” according to a 2024 filing in the bankruptcy proceed. These injuries were allegedly caused when Sanders elbowed and continued to hit Darjean during an altercation.

Sanders lost the judgement when it went to trial in 2022, and failed to appear. The court awarded Darjean an $11.89 million judgement against Sanders after finding he had committed assault and battery. Darjean has alleged this judgement has not been paid and that Sanders has tried to discharge the settlement via bankruptcy proceedings.

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this report.