County to pay $3.1 million after deputies shot, killed a man in Fresno in 2020
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- Fresno County Board approved a $3.1 million wrongful death settlement over Mullins' 2020 shooting
- Attorney Wagner said deputies used loudspeaker and a tactical robot before Mullins exited
- Sheriff’s Office began using body cameras in 2024; settlement stops trial without admission
The family of Fresno man who was killed by deputies with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office in 2020 will receive $3.1 million as part of a wrongful death lawsuit settlement.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved the settlement last week, ending the litigation against the county over the death of Kenneth Mullins, 32.
Mullins was shot and killed by two deputies on March 6, 2020, after he broke into Jamie’s Auto Dismantling near Church and West avenues.
Attorney Nicholas “Butch” Wagner, who represents the family of Mullins, said that when deputies arrived they used a loudspeaker and at one point a tactical robot to try and see who was inside the business. After a few minutes Mullins walked out and the deputies, Chris Curtice and Alex Riordan, ordered him to show them his hands.
Wagner said that when Mullins walked out of the building, his hands were at his side.
In depositions and in an interview with Sheriff’s Office investigators, the deputies said Mullins began walking towards them, hands in his pockets, in a threatening manner.
“And that is when they shot and killed him,” Wagner said. “But Kenny didn’t even have a gun.”
Wagner said a third deputy at the scene of the shooting told investigators Mullins did not have his hands in his pockets and did not point his hands towards deputies.
Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and body cameras
At the time of the shooting, the FCSO deputies did not use body cameras. Wagner made that request in his lawsuit on behalf of Mullin’s mother Rosemary Mullins and his 11-year-old daughter.
“Money was just a secondary issue for Rosemary. She wanted this to benefit the public as well and she wanted this case to have a positive resolution. She knew her son did nothing wrong.”
Wagner said Kenneth Mullins had fallen on hard times, having become temporarily homeless and struggling with mental illness.
Starting in January 2024, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office began using body worn cameras, almost four years after Mullins was killed.
Neither the Sheriff’s Office nor Fresno County officials could comment on the settlement that still must be approved by a federal court judge.
Wagner said the Sheriff’s Office would not concede that the Mullins lawsuit had anything to do with the new body worn camera policy.
“But it is an amazing coincidence though,” Wagner said.
The wrongful death lawsuit was expected to start last week had a settlement not been reached.
This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 1:47 PM.
