A decade-long legal battle between Deion Sanders’ son, Shilo Sanders, and John Darjean, the former security guard at Shilo’s former school, has taken a critical turn following an incident in 2015. 

Shilo Sanders filed for bankruptcy in October 2023. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety is in debt for more than $11 million, most of it owed to Darjean.

In an interview, Darjean said that he was open to settling the case earlier with a smaller amount if Deion Sanders had offered to do so. 

“I would have taken something,” said Darjean, per USA Today. “I was thinking Deion was man enough to say, ‘Hey, here’s $200,000. I know my son messed your neck up. You’re damaged.”

The settlement didn’t happen then. Darjean is now seeking $11 million in total, including the rising legal costs during the decade-long legal ordeal. With Shilo Sanders showing no signs of compromise, the case now heads for trial on August 31.

Per Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today, the incident happened in 2015 when Shilo was 15 years old. Shilo had punched and elbowed Darjean in the neck in school when the latter tried to confiscate his phone. 

"Darjean said this severely aggravated a previous neck injury and caused him to suffer permanent injuries and pain, including incontinence and another surgery in May," Schrotenboer wrote.

The former guard then sued Shilo Sanders and his parents in June 2016. However, in 2019, Deion Sanders and Shilo’s mother were dismissed from the case.

Shilo was left as the sole defendant when he was 19 years old during his freshman year in South Carolina.  

In March 2022, Shilo Sanders didn’t show up for the trial in Dallas. Darjean then won a default judgment for his case against Shilo, amounting to $11.89 million.

The amount included $3 million for future physical impairment, $2 million for future medical expenses and $2 million for future lost earning capacity.

With a confidentiality agreement and an NDA, Deion Sanders could’ve avoided the legal hassles and settled the matter years ago. Moreover, the video by TMZ about the incident made matters even worse. 

Darjean Cites TMZ Video Episode as Turning Point in Sanders Lawsuit

John Darjean said that the Sanders family had allegedly leaked the video involving a part of the incident to TMZ in June 2016.

"He has accused Deion Sanders of leaking only part of the footage and arranging to delete the part that incriminated his son," Schrotenboer added.

The TMZ article that accompanied the video had Deion Sanders calling Darjean a “real-life grifter” who used unnecessary force on Shilo to get his cellphone. Four days after the footage went public, Darjean filed suit against the Sanders family. 

“I wanted everything-plus after he lied on me on TMZ,” Darjean said.

Darjean concluded by saying that the TMZ video episode changed his mind about taking anything less than what he could show in court against Deion Sanders and his son. 

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Written by

Naomi Grace

Edited by

Shubhi Rathore