SAN ANTONIO – After more than a year of legal filings and court hearings, Bexar County officials agreed to settle a lawsuit over the 2017 fatal shooting of 6-year-old Kameron Prescott for $5 million. Attorneys representing the Prescott family confirmed the details in a news release published Monday.
Under the agreement, Bexar County will pay $4.5 million to the parents of Kameron Prescott and $500,000 to the mother of Amanda Jones. The settlement will be paid out by the county’s insurer, One Beacon.
Recommended Videos
Jones, who was being sought by Bexar County sheriff’s deputies on outstanding warrants for credit card abuse and fraud was shot outside the Prescotts’ mobile home on Dec. 21, 2017. Kameron Prescott was hit by bullets as he played in his room.
As Jones was eluding deputies, she entered the Prescotts’ mobile home uninvited. The two parties did not previously know each other, according to court documents.
Kameron’s father asked Jones to leave, and as she did, four deputies encountered her outside the mobile home.
Deputies, who claim they thought Jones was armed, opened fire on Jones. In total, deputies fired a total of 18 rounds, killing Jones and Kameron, who was wearing Minions pajamas and holding a toy light-up sword near the entrance of his room. Officials later confirmed Jones was unarmed throughout the incident.
After Kameron was hit, his last words to his father were, “ouch, Daddy, ouch,” according to the family’s attorneys.
The family filed the lawsuit over Kameron’s death in December 2019. Shortly after the filing, Jones’ mother joined the lawsuit against the county, court records showed.
Initially, the family’s attorneys had offered to settle the case for $2 million, which the county’s attorneys rejected, according to letters provided by the Prescotts’ attorneys. After two failed attempts to have the lawsuit dismissed, the county eventually agreed to the $5 million settlement offer in April.
Bexar County officials released a statement saying it was in the best interest of everyone to accept a settlement.
“The death of Kameron Prescott is a tragedy,” according to a statement released by the county on Tuesday. “The County together with their insurance company has made the decision to settle the joint demand by the Prescott Family and Jones Family. We believe this step is in the best interest of everyone involved without prolonging the lawsuit. We hope Kameron’s family can find some level of solace with the closure of the case.”
“On behalf of Mr. Prescott, we praise Bexar County for finally bringing some measure of justice to Kameron’s family, allowing them to close this tragic chapter in their lives. We hope the increased training promised by Sheriff Salazar in the weeks after this tragedy will save lives by avoiding the use of deadly force by law enforcement when other more appropriate means are available,” said Tom Crosley, the attorney who represented Kameron’s father Christopher Prescott.