As Shilo Sanders navigates a bankruptcy filing, the Colorado defensive back and son of Deion Sanders “cannot wait for trial to share his side of story,” his attorney, Victor Vital, told 247Sports’ Carl Reed. The impetus for the filing is that Sanders owes more than $11 million in a civil court judgment stemming from injuries Sanders allegedly caused to a security guard when he was a 15-year old high school student in Texas.
“We have seen the recent press coverage; however, we will not litigate this case in the media,” Vital said in a statement. “We have been, and will continue to be, open and cooperative with the United States Bankruptcy Trustee in all aspects of the bankruptcy case. It is important to recognize that this is a civil proceeding as a result of a default judgment against Shilo. Since he did not have the opportunity to present his case, the trial in the Bankruptcy Court will be the avenue for Shilo to present evidence of what happened and we look forward to vindicating Shilo’s rights in Court.”
USA Today previously reported that when Sanders no-showed for a 2022 trial in the civil case, the court entered a default ruling requiring him to pay $11.89 million. However, the Dallas-area court where the civil trial took place noted that it had “no updated mailing address” for Sanders. Now 24 and entering his sixth season of college football, Sanders has played at South Carolina, Jackson State and Colorado in the years since graduating from Trinity Christian School in the Dallas suburb of Cedar Hill, Texas.
John Darjean, a former security guard at Triple A Academy in Dallas, Texas, filed a lawsuit against Sanders and his family in June 2016. The suit alleges that in 2015, Sanders — who was 15 at the time — assaulted Darjean after Sanders refused Darjean’s request to turn over his cellphone. It is alleged that Sanders “slammed his elbow into Darjean’s chest and continued to hit Darjean after he fell,” according to court documents obtained by Westwood.
Sanders led Colorado with 70 tackles last season and is expected to be an anchor of the Buffaloes defense in 2024.
