Last month, Colorado football coach Deion Sanders was asked about his son’s ongoing bankruptcy situation, prompting him to make a special request to the journalist from YSL News Sports who brought it up.

“I want you to do this for me,” said the Pro Football Hall of Famer. “Please conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and report what really happened.”

YSL News Sports had already been looking into this and released previous articles regarding the issue and its origins in 2015. However, following Sanders’ request, they revisited records and sought additional insights from officials concerning the case involving his son, Shilo, who filed for bankruptcy last October, burdened with over $11 million in debt.

The research revealed that at least five different agencies or institutions, equipped with access to witnesses and evidence from the 2015 incident, came to conclusions about it – notably, Dallas police, Shilo’s educational institution, an insurance firm, Texas child protective services, and a civil court in Dallas.

What were the conclusions of these agencies and institutions?

None of these inquiries were in favor of Shilo Sanders, now a prominent safety on his father’s team at Colorado.

Four of the five official investigations supported John Darjean, the school security officer who claimed to have sustained permanent and severe spinal and nerve injuries after an alleged assault by Shilo in 2015, when Shilo was a 15-year-old freshman at FOCUS Academies in Dallas.

The remaining investigation initially sided with Shilo but later reversed its stance after new information emerged, concluding that liability could not be established.

YSL News Sports also sought additional clarification from Shilo’s attorney in Texas but did not receive a response.

Below is an overview of the results of the five inquiries following Darjean’s assertion that Shilo threw a roundhouse elbow at him while Darjean attempted to confiscate his phone at school. Darjean subsequently sued Shilo in civil court for his injuries, winning a default judgment of $11.89 million in 2022 – a significant financial burden that prompted Shilo to file for bankruptcy as a means to alleviate it.

The bankruptcy case is still ongoing and may eventually depend on the 2015 incident. Deion Sanders has characterized Darjean’s claims as fabricated and a mere attempt to solicit money. Shilo Sanders contends that he acted in self-defense during the encounter with Darjean, while his legal team has raised doubts about the legitimacy of Darjean’s injuries.

What did the Dallas police indicate regarding the Shilo Sanders situation?

In response to inquiries, the Dallas police shared the following details.

“On September 17, 2015, at approximately 11:55 AM, Dallas police received a call regarding an incident in the 2500 block of W Ledbetter Drive. The initial investigation revealed that a security officer and a teenager were engaged in an argument when the teen struck the security officer. Dallas Fire Rescue arrived and transported the officer to a nearby hospital for further treatment.”

The police noted that the case was brought before a grand jury; however, there is no available public record of any criminal charges or indictments.

Court documents reveal that the day following the incident, Shilo Sanders was involved in a separate incident at school with another student, which led to his temporary detention at a juvenile center in Dallas. Records also indicate that Darjean had to undergo spinal surgery a few days after the incident.

What did the school discover?

Darjean was initially placed on paid suspension pending the results of an internal inquiry. Five days after the event, Leroy McClure, the school CEO and founder, informed Darjean in a letter that his suspension was being lifted, and he was reinstated immediately.

“Video evidence supports your account, along with the nearby employee’s statement,” the school communicated in its findings. “You were attempting to confiscate the cell phone from the student when you were hit in the upper chest area by the student’s elbow. You subsequently tried to hold the student against the wall. The student pushed back, disengaging both of you from the wall. You made a second attempt to restrain the student, eventually bringing him to the ground. At this point, other staff members arrived to assist.”

The specific video evidence cited to clear Darjean is unclear. In 2016, TMZ released partial security footage of the incident. However, Darjean has claimed that other footage, supporting his defense, was deleted by a technician shortly before Deion Sanders approached that technician to retrieve it.

“I’m referring back to the letter I signed in 2015,” McClure stated. “I thoroughly considered various perspectives before signing the document. I have nothing to add or remove from this letter. It stands on its own. I’m unsure of the video’s whereabouts.”

Findings from Texas Child Protection Services

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services got involved to investigate whether Shilo Sanders experienced abuse as a minor in school.

On October 30, 2015, the agency initially indicated that there was “reason to believe” abuse or neglect occurred concerning Shilo, based on the overall evidence. In February, attorneys for Shilo Sanders presented this initial finding in bankruptcy court to persuade a judge to dismiss Darjean’s complaint against Sanders.

However, this initial finding was not conclusive and was largely influenced by false statements from two school officials, who claimed that Darjean had been fired over the incident, according to court documents. McClure, the school CEO, later testified in a pretrial deposition that Darjean had not been terminated and that the incorrect information originated from two officials who had personal conflicts with Darjean and weren’t authorized to make such claims. McClure also described these officials as a “liability,” and both were dismissed from the school in 2016.

Records acquired by YSL News Sports reveal that the initial ruling by the agency was reversed after obtaining two additional witness statements that supported Darjean’s account.

Consequently, the case was later classified as “Unable to be Determined.”

In another unexpected turn, Deion Sanders initially informed the agency’s investigator, Jordan Ham, that he did not believe Darjean used excessive force when restraining Shilo and thought Darjean managed the situation correctly, according to court records. He made this assertion 12 days post-incident in the presence of his lawyer, according to Ham. However, Deion Sanders later retracted this, claiming he had not witnessed the incident and therefore could not have known.

Findings from Workers Compensation Insurance

Employees can submit a workers compensation claim when they are injured while working to assist with medical costs and part of lost earnings. However, these claims do not automatically receive benefits. The insurance provider may investigate to confirm the validity of the claim and can deny it if the injury was a result of the employee attempting to “illegally harm another person,” as per Texas law.

This was not the outcome in Darjean’s case. An independent physician reviewed his medical records and deemed that he had legitimate injuries that qualified for compensation. The insurance company also acquired records from the school regarding the incident.

“Due to the filing of the workers’ compensation claim, Utica National Insurance Company disbursed both medical benefits and indemnity benefits to or on behalf of John Darjean,” stated an affidavit from the company’s records custodian from July 2021.

The affidavit indicated that the company had paid $112,000 in medical benefits at that time, along with $99,000 in indemnity benefits.

The doctor noted that Darjean had a pre-existing condition, having undergone surgery in 2014 prior to the incident. However, he stated that the injury from the 2015 incident significantly worsened his condition.

“The accident caused cervical myelopathy and cervical cord compression and urged urinary incontinence due to spinal stenosis,” the doctor wrote to the Texas Department of Insurance in 2016. “In other words, there was an aggravation of a pre-existing condition.”

Findings from Civil Court

Darjean initially filed a lawsuit against Shilo and both of his parents in 2016, but by early 2019, both parents had been removed from the case, leaving Shilo as the only defendant when he started his freshman year at South Carolina. Shilo had been self-representing in the lawsuit for several years, even filing counterclaims and giving testimony in a pretrial deposition.

However, in April 2020, he chose to dismiss his lawyers without hiring replacements. At that time, his attorneys claimed Shilo was “unwilling or unable to continue funding” his defense.

Without legal representation, trial notifications were sent to his email and his previous home address in South Carolina, despite the fact that he had left after the 2020 season to transfer to Jackson State.

When the case eventually went to trial in March 2022, Shilo failed to appear to defend himself, resulting in an $11.89 million default judgment against him.

After reviewing the evidence, the court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law.

“On September 17, 2015, Shilo Sanders did indeed inflict physical harm and injuries to John Darjean through assault,” the court stated. “The Court finds that Shilo Sanders’ actions were the primary cause of John Darjean’s injuries and damages. Furthermore, the Court concludes that Shilo Sanders’ conduct was a significant factor in causing the physical and mental injuries that John Darjean experienced, without which these injuries and damages would not have transpired.”

The current question is whether the bankruptcy court will support Shilo now after other institutions have not. If victorious, the court could potentially eliminate the judgment debt, allowing him a fresh financial start with relatively minor repercussions.

A spokesperson for the University of Colorado mentioned that Deion and Shilo Sanders were “unable to comment” on the ongoing bankruptcy case. The Buffaloes are set to open their second season under Sanders on August 29 against North Dakota State.

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