Taking the stand in his bankruptcy trial on Tuesday, Shilo Sanders denied assaulting a school security guard at a Dallas school in 2015.
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Sanders’ testimony contradicted depositions that were heard Monday, in which witnesses said Sanders was angry, cursing and kicking chairs before becoming the aggressor in the altercation between him and former school security guard John Darjean at a school in Dallas.
Sanders said he was not angry, did not curse and never kicked or threw a chair. “That never happened,” Sanders said.
Judge Michael E. Romero heard Sanders’ testimony in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver. In the trial, which is scheduled to run through Friday, Romero will determine whether Sanders acted willfully and maliciously during the Sept. 17, 2015, incident in which Darjean claimed the then 15-year-old Sanders assaulted him and caused permanent injuries.
Darjean sued Sanders and was awarded $11.89 million. Sanders filed for bankruptcy in 2023 and now hopes to discharge, or erase, the debt owed to Darjean. Romero will determine whether Sanders acted willfully and maliciously, because under U.S. bankruptcy law, debts resulting from a “willful and malicious injury” cannot be discharged by filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Sanders testified that Darjean was “getting aggressive” and “attacked and assaulted” him, including choking him. Witnesses said in depositions played on Monday that Sanders struck Darjean and that they did not see Darjean choke Sanders.
Sanders denied striking Darjean.
Jordan Ham, whose video deposition was played earlier Tuesday afternoon, investigated the incident for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. The final report determined there was not enough evidence to determine whether Sanders suffered abuse, Ham testified in his deposition. Ham’s investigation began after Sanders reported to the agency that he was choked and slammed into a wall.
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Michael Phillips, a medical doctor who treated Darjean’s injuries after the incident, testified via video deposition to Darjean’s ongoing pain. After the incident, Darjean underwent surgery to fuse the C3 through C7 vertebrae in his neck.
“It was an extensive injury to warrant multi-level fusion,” Phillips said.
Darjean stepped out of the courtroom several times during the first two days of the trial to take a break from sitting due to back pain.
Part of a 2018 video deposition from CU Buffs head coach Deion Sanders, the father of Shilo Sanders, was also played in court on Tuesday afternoon.
Deion Sanders said that Darjean called him on his cell phone earlier that day because Darjean was dealing with a situation with his son, but that Darjean didn’t provide specific details.
“My exact words were to handle it like you’d handle anybody else,” Deion Sanders said in his deposition.
Shilo Sanders is expected to continue testifying on Wednesday.
Deion Sanders will be available virtually at 1:30 p.m. MDT Friday in case his testimony is needed in his son’s trial. His possible virtual court appearance is scheduled the day after the Buffs’ season opener at Georgia Tech on Thursday.
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