Family of man killed by deputies will sue Fresno County, alleging excessive force
The family of a man shot and killed by Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies in southwest Fresno has filed a complaint against the county, alleging the deputies used excessive force.
Attorney Nicholas “Butch” Wagner said Kenneth Mullins, 32, was unarmed and not a threat when deputies found him asleep inside Jamie’s Auto Dismantling near Church and West avenues on March 6 at about 5 p.m.
Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti declined to comment on the complaint on Friday, saying the shooting is still under investigation.
Wagner said Mullins suffered from mental illness and was homeless.
“The Sheriff’s deputies did not have a justifiable cause to kill him,” Wagner said. “There were other means to apprehend him. The deputies overreacted and they reacted too quickly.”
The complaint, filed by Mullins’s 6-year-old daughter and her mother, Rosemary Hinojosa Mullins, is a precursor to filing a lawsuit in Fresno County Superior Court, Wagner said.
Although Wagner listed “in excess of $2 million” as the total amount of damages claimed, he said that figure is just a placeholder. If a jury finds in favor of the family in Superior Court, the amount could be much higher.
Shortly after the shooting, the Sheriff’s office issued a news release about the incident. In it they said deputies were called out to the recycling business after the owner told a dispatcher he found someone asleep inside the shop.
The owner told deputies the business was closed that day and he did not know Mullins. He also said he was concerned because there were guns and ammunition inside.
When deputies arrived, they surrounded the building and used a loudspeaker to call out to Mullins but he did not respond. After about 30 minutes, they deployed a tactical robot into the building to try and get a visual of the suspect. The camera showed Mullins picking up the robot and throwing it, according to a news release.
A few minutes later he left the building. Two deputies who were standing nearby made contact with Mullins and gave him commands.
“The suspect did not comply and two deputies fired their guns multiple times, striking the man. He was pronounced deceased at the scene,” according to the release.
In the complaint, Wagner said he wants to see the body cam footage.
“This is one of the reasons why it is important for police officers to wear body cams, so there is not dispute about what happened,” Wagner said. “There has to be transparency between the police and the public.”
