Report: Shilo Sanders at fault in four of five investigations into 2015 assault case

A USA Today investigation into the root of Shilo Sanders‘ bankruptcy case — spurred on by his father and Colorado coach Deion Sanders pushing for a “whole complete investigation on what truly happened” — has found that none of the five entities that investigated sided with Shilo.

And four of the five entities found him to be at fault, with one not making a determination.

Shilo filed for bankruptcy in order to discharge debts he owes, namely an $11.89 million judgement to John Darjean, a former security guard at a Texas school who Shilo allegedly assaulted him in 2015. Darjean sued Shilo and won the judgement as a result of the alleged assault and subsequent injuries.

And as the bankruptcy case continued to be news, Deion Sanders was asked about it by a USA Today reporter and clamored for there to be a deeper look into what happened.

“I want you to do this for me,” Deion Sanders said. “I want you to do your homework and do a whole investigation on that and then write that. I mean the whole complete investigation on what truly happened.”

That led USA Today to ultimately dig in with five entities: Dallas police, Shilo’s school, an insurance company, Texas child protective services and a civil court in Dallas. Only one of them — Texas CPS — didn’t find Shilo was at fault, and they ultimately ruled that no determination could be made.

Shilo was alleged to have elbowed Darjean in the chest and then slam him against a wall as the then-security guard tried to take his phone and then restrain him.

The incident was quickly referred to Dallas police, which said the following to USA Today.

“On September 17, 2015 at about 11:55 AM, Dallas police responded to a call for service in the 2500 block of W Ledbetter Drive. The preliminary investigation determined a security officer and teen were in an argument when the teen hit the security officer. Dallas Fire Rescue responded and transported the security officer to a local hospital for further medical treatment.”

The matter was referred to a grand jury but no charges were filed.

And the school — the now-defunct Focus Learning Academy — also investigated the incident. After days of paid administrative leave, Darjean was reinstated effectively immediately as the school founder and CEO, Leroy McClure, found video evidence supported Darjean’s version of events.

The video evidence in the case has since been mostly lost.

“Video evidence supports your statement and the statement of the nearest employee in the area,” the school’s findings stated in the letter obtained by USA Today. “You were trying to take the student’s cell phone away from him. You were struck in the upper chest area by the student’s elbow. You then attempted to restrain the student against the wall. The student pushed back against you, moving both of you back off the wall. You attempted to restrain the student a second time against the wall and then moved the student to the floor to restrain him. At that point other employees entered the area to assist.”

At this point, Texas CPS was also investigating and originally found there to be a preponderance of evidence that Shilo might have been abused or neglected. Those finding were even brought up in the bankruptcy case that’s now proceeding.

But, as USA Today reported, that account was based on information from two administrators — since fired in 2016 — who McClure testified in a deposition had prior issues with Darjean. USA Today further obtained records showing the disposition of the case was changed to “unable to determine” after more people were interviewed.

And besides those original three investigations, Darjean’s claim for workers compensation insurance to pay out was investigated by the insurance company, a common practice for claims that are not guaranteed to be paid out.

Visits with doctors and an examination of the situation by the insurance company found that Darjean was eligible for the workers comp. He could’ve been denied had they determined his injuries occurred while he tried to “unlawfully injure another person.” An affidavit from the insurance company from 2021 obtained by USA Today shows Darjean had been paid out more than $200,000 in total.

A doctor Darjean saw in that case also noted in 2016 that his injuries were not merely pre-existing conditions, as argued by Shilo’s attorneys in the bankruptcy case.

“The accident resulted in cervical myelopathy and cervical cord compression and urine incontinence because there was a spinal stenosis,” the doctor wrote to the Texas Department of Insurance in 2016, according to USA Today. “In other words, there was what l would call an aggravation of a pre-existing condition.”

And there was of course a civil trial in Texas that resulted in the judgement against Shilo. USA Today outlined how Shilo was originally responding to the case as he was a freshman football player at South Carolina, but he eventually stopped being represented by attorneys and didn’t respond to filings or show up to court in March 2022 when it went to trial.

As such, Darjean was awarded the nearly $12 million judgement by default and the court issued a conclusion of facts and findings relative to the case and applicable law.

“On September 17, 2015, Shilo Sanders did in fact cause physical harm and injuries to John Darjean by assaulting him,” the court stated, according to USA Today. “The Court finds that Shilo Sanders’ actions were the proximate cause of John Darjean’s injuries/damages. The Court further finds that Shilo Sander’s actions were a substantial factor in bringing about the physical and mental injuries sustained by John Darjean, without which such injuries and damages would not have occurred.”

Shilo’s bankruptcy case is still pending. Neither Shilo or Deion Sanders offered comment, as a Colorado spokesperson said the two were “unable” amid the pending bankruptcy litigation, according to USA Today.