SAN DIEGO (CNS) — A former San Diego County sheriff's deputy who fatally shot a fleeing, unarmed man outside the San Diego Central Jail was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison.
Aaron Russell was convicted by a San Diego federal jury for the May 1, 2020 shooting death of 36-year-old Nicholas Bils.
Bils, who was in the process of being transported to the San Diego Central Jail, slipped out of his handcuffs and out of a California State Parks officer's car, then was shot four times in the back, arm and thigh while running away.
Three other law enforcement officers were at the scene, but Russell was the only one to draw his firearm, according to prosecutors.
At the time of the shooting, Russell was 23 years old and had been with the sheriff's department for 18 months.
Jurors found Russell guilty of charges of deprivation of rights under color of law and using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
The trial was Russell's second in federal court in connection with the shooting, after a prior jury deadlocked and was unable to reach verdicts.
Russell was also prosecuted in state court, where he faced a second- degree murder charge, but ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced in 2022 to one year in jail, plus probation.
The shooting also led to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Bils' family, which settled in mid-2022, with San Diego County agreeing to pay the family $8.1 million.
During his trial, Russell testified that he believed Bils was holding a gun, which turned out later to be the dangling handcuff that had slipped off of one of Bils' wrists.
At Russell's sentencing hearing on Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Seth Askins alleged Russell was lying about believing Bils was armed. The prosecutor said that in the hours immediately following the shooting, Russell never mentioned seeing a gun.
Defense attorney Jeremy Warren argued for a 10-year sentence, saying it was an "aberrant case" that hinged on a "terrible, split-second decision."
The attorney noted Russell's youth and relative lack of law enforcement experience at the time of the shooting.
Warren also argued that the dozens of people attending the sentencing hearing in support of Russell spoke to his good character, and said his client was dedicated to a life of service to his family and community and entered law enforcement with the intention of helping others.
Russell said in court that he was "deeply regretful" for his decisions that day.
"I have understood for a long time now how costly those actions were and still are," Russell said. "They have caused a lot of people much grief, especially the Bils family."
Prosecutors sought a sentence of 13 years. Askins argued an important component of the sentence was imposing a term above the minimum possible time, as Bils' actions contributed to the public's loss of confidence in law enforcement.
"Aaron Russell abused his power in the worst possible way, by taking a human life without justification that can never be replaced," Askins said.
The prosecutor said Russell not only killed Bils, but endangered the lives of a woman driving nearby -- whose car was struck by one of the bullets -- and another officer who was running after Bils and nearly ended up in the line of fire.
"When the defendant shot him, he was just trying to run away. He wasn't trying to harm anyone," Askins said.
Friday's hearing included a statement from Bils' mother, Kathleen Bils, who did not attend the hearing but had prosecutors read her statement in court.
"To hear that those trained and sworn to protect us have shot and killed one of us for fleeing is egregious," she wrote. "What kind of country allows that behavior by its law enforcement?"
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Previous Coverage:
- Federal jury convicts ex-San Diego County deputy in detainee's fatal shooting
- Ex-San Diego County sheriff's deputy faces federal charges for fatal shooting of fleeing detainee
- San Diego County sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot escaped detainee resigns from department
- Police identify suspect, deputy involved in deadly downtown shooting
- Suspect who escaped park rangers' vehicle shot, killed by deputy in San Diego
