San Diego deputy who pleaded responsible to manslaughter now faces federal costs
SAN DIEGO — A former San Diego sheriff’s deputy who already pleaded responsible to voluntary manslaughter for the 2020 deadly capturing of an unarmed suspect has been indicted on two federal costs that would deliver a life sentence, federal prosecutors mentioned.
A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment Friday charging Aaron Russell with depriving Nicholas Bils of his proper to be free from officers utilizing extreme drive and with discharging a firearm in a violent crime, the U.S. Division of Justice mentioned in an announcement.
Bils, 36, was arrested in Could 2020 at Previous City State Park in San Diego the place he had been pitching balls to his off-leash canine. He brandished a golf membership at a ranger earlier than working away and was arrested on suspicion of assault with a lethal weapon and resisting arrest.
Aaron Russell, a jail deputy with 18 months on the drive, chased Bils and shot him 4 instances, together with as soon as within the again. Surveillance video captured the capturing.
Russell was charged with homicide, however pleaded responsible to voluntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to a 12 months in jail and three years of probation. If convicted of the federal costs, he faces a most penalty of life in jail, the Justice Division mentioned.
Contact info for Russell couldn’t be discovered Sunday. He resigned from the sheriff’s division shortly after the capturing.
Bils’ mom, Kathleen Bils, instructed NBC 7 her son was a paranoid schizophrenic who was afraid of regulation enforcement, which can have performed a task in his flight.
The capturing led to a wrongful loss of life lawsuit filed by Bils’ relations, which was settled in 2022 with San Diego County agreeing to pay the household $8.1 million.
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