Ely family loses legal case against Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif.- A legal challenge targeting the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office over whether the 2019 fatal shooting of Cameron Ely was lawful or excessively forceful has been denied by the Santa Barbara District Attorney Office .
The case centered on the fatal shooting of Cameron Ely, the son of actor Ron Ely, and the fatal stabbing of Cameron's mother on Oct. 15, 2019 in Hope Ranch.
According to Santa Barbara sheriff’s department, 30-year-old Cameron Ely allegedly attacked his 62-year-old mother, Valerie, and stabbed her to death in the family's home.
Sheriff's deputies responded to the Ely residence in Hope Ranch around 8 p.m. on Oct. 15, 2019, to find Valerie Ely, Ron Ely's wife, lying on the floor with multiple stab wounds. Deputies located Ron Ely, former TV star in the Tarzan series, in the home, where he told them that his son was the one who had stabbed his wife.
Deputies and law enforcement officers searched for Cameron on the Hope Ranch property. An hour and a half later, four deputies located Cameron in a dark driveway, where Cameron Ely was then shot by sheriffs 22 times.
Exact details that led to the shooting and Ely's death remain disputed.
A Santa Barbara County District Attorney's report had said that Cameron Ely was covered in blood and appeared to have a knife wound in his neck.
In October 2020, attorneys for the Ely family claimed Cameron had his hands up, in surrender mode.
According to the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office, Cameron told deputies he had a gun and moved his hand toward his waistband causing deputies to open fire.
The forensic pathologist who reviewed the case found 22-gunshot wounds to Cameron's torso, neck, back, buttocks and arms.
Ely family attorney DeWitt Lacy said, “that could have only come when Cameron was lying down. As a matter of fact we count only 15.”
Attorneys for the family called Cameron's shooting "a summary execution" and "excessive deadly force."
“If he didn’t have a gun and he didn’t have a weapon, what was the basis for shooting him?” said Ely Family Attorney John Burris.
In October of 2020 the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office ruled the shooting was "justified."
Sheriff Bill Brown released a statement to News Channel 3-12 following the latest legal decision that supports the original 2020 ruling.
“Although we recognize that this was a tragic situation, and have great sympathy for the Ely family, the use of deadly force against Cameron Ely was justified and lawful under the circumstances."
The legal battle was taken all the way to the central district of California. It was decided last week, by a federal jury.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Cameron did not have a gun on him following the fatal shooting.
