SCHERTZ, Texas — The family of a 6-year-old boy fatally shot in 2017 by Bexar County Sheriff’s Deputies during the pursuit of a woman wanted on warrants said they will file a lawsuit against the county on Monday.
A draft of the complaint, shared exclusively with KENS 5, sheds light on the shooting that killed Kameron Prescott, 6, and Amanda Jones, the fugitive deputies sought. The lawsuit, scheduled to be filed in federal court Monday morning, names Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar and deputies John Aguillon, George Herrera, Jesse Arias and Johnny Longoria.
The documents for the first time shed light on Jones’s interactions with the Prescotts prior to the deadly Dec. 21, 2017, shooting, as well as the immediate aftermath of the fatal shots.
According to the complaint, Kameron Prescott was visiting with his dad, Christopher “Shane” Prescott, at his home on the 100 block of Peach Lane when Jones walked into his home. Christopher Prescott, the lawsuit alleges, told Jones to leave the house, to which she responded, “you have kids and I do not want trouble.”
As she turned to leave Christopher Prescott’s home, she was fired on by deputies Aguillon, Herrera, Arias and Longoria – most of the rounds .223 caliber bullets. The lawsuit states that deputies continued firing after Jones slumped and fell forward from the initial gunfire. The report states deputies fired at least 18 rounds.
“Ouch, daddy, ouch”
According to the complaint, 6-year-old Kameron Prescott was in or near his room when he was hit twice by the rain of gunfire. Christopher Prescott said he heard his son cry out in pain, “Ouch, daddy, ouch,” and saw him lying in the middle of the hall of his trailer.
When Christopher Prescott tried to rush to help his son, deputies stormed his home and placed him in handcuffs while other deputies went to render aid to Kameron Prescott. He died at University Hospital.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Kameron Prescott’s uncle told KENS 5 that he wanted answers and justice in his nephew’s death.
"If it is the police, we hope that you hold your people accountable," Christopher Gonzales said. "I am sorry that it comes to this, but y'all are people just like us at the end of the day. Y'all deserve to be held accountable. It is a constitutional right. Y'all just killed a little boy, if it was y'all. There's no weapon, so it wasn't that lady."
The deputies who fired their weapons were all no-billed by a grand jury earlier this year and returned to duty.
Gun never found at the scene
A day after the shooting, Sheriff Javier Salazar said Jones told deputies she was armed and pointed a gun at them while hiding in a closet at a residence near FM 1518 and Schaefer Road.
"The suspect indicated to the deputies, 'I have a weapon, I'm going to shoot you'. At that point, she actually brandished the weapon toward the deputy," Salazar said.
A firearm was never found. Instead, deputies found a dark tube which they believed Jones to be carrying when she was killed.
Why were deputies looking for Amanda Jones?
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Salazar said deputies suspected Jones was involved in a vehicle burglary, prompting the pursuit. But the lawsuit states that it was actually a bounty hunter that alerted deputies to the fact that Jones was in the area. Jones was wanted on fraud and credit card abuse warrants.
An attorney representing the Prescott family told KENS 5 that the bounty hunter had contacted the Sheriff's Office to arrest Jones, but that Jones instead led deputies on a foot chase.
Officials said Jones was driving a vehicle that had been reported as stolen.
Lawsuit criticizes deputies lack of training
The lawsuit alleges that the deputies who opened fire were poorly trained and should have known that firing their AR-15s and handguns in a crowded mobile home park would inevitably harm or kill a bystander.
“Even after ample opportunity to deliberate a plan of action over the course of a lengthy pursuit resulting in multiple encounters with Amanda Jones, Defendant deputies deliberately, and in collective orchestration, discharged AR15 rifles and handguns in the middle of the day within a mobile home community,” the draft of the suit states.
The lawsuit states Salazar knew his deputies lacked training and "showed deliberate indifference towards constitutionally-inadequate training and policies pertaining to the use of deadly force."
"Sheriff Salazar knew or should have known that the training of deputies and that use-of-force policies were inadequate for some time prior to this incident," the lawsuit states.
Eyewitness wants to Know reached out to Salazar for an on-camera interview to discuss whether any changes had been made following Kameron Prescott's death, but he declined citing ongoing litigation.
"While we cannot comment specifically on this case due to ongoing litigation, training hours have increased dramatically since December 2017," the Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
The Prescotts, through the Crosley Law Firm, are suing for medical and funeral expenses, mental anguish and emotional distress, court costs, among other things.
Chris Prescott: 'It's very difficult to even function day to day'
On Sunday, Christopher Prescott for the first time shared what happened that day, and how he has moved forward in the aftermath.
“He said, 'Ouch daddy ouch,' and that was the last thing I heard from him,” Christopher Prescott recalled.
He said after Kameron's death, he moved out of his home, unable to bear the thought of staying there. The Christmas presents that he purchased for Kameron, he said he finally gathered the strength to donate this year.
"The presents stayed wrapped about a year and a few months," Christopher Prescott said. "I would say just recently, at the beginning of this year, I was able to actually go through the presents and either donate them to Toys for Tots or donate them to other children around his age that were his friends."
In addition to counseling, Christopher Prescott said he's found support from his family and the VA in helping him make sense of life without Kameron.
"For this to happen to a parent is literally taking their whole world and ripping it out from underneath them," Christopher Prescott said. "It's hard and it's very difficult to even function day to day."
He said he keeps a shed of Kameron's things that he can never bring himself to explore because of the emotional toll it takes on him. While deeply missing his son, he said he knows that Kameron, who he described as a loving, smiling, energetic child, would want him to make the best of things.
"There's a lot of things that still remind me of my son," Christopher Prescott said. "This whole town. I've been all over the town with my son."
Christopher Prescott said he finds some comfort in doing the things Kameron enjoyed: making and decorating sugar cookies and helping others.
Every year, the Prescott family purchases school supplies that they would've purchased for Kameron and donates the supplies to Kameron's old school. Additionally, Christopher Prescott said he promised his son he would finish his culinary degree and has since done that.
"Make memories with your child. You never know how quickly or how long you'll have with them," Prescott said through tears. "I learned that the hard way. I made memories every chance I got. Those are the memories I have to live with. That's all I get to live with, is the memories of my son."