Jury decides Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s use of force against Cameron Ely in 2019 was justified
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – A federal jury recently decided that the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office's use of force in a fatal 2019 shooting where actor Ron Ely's 30-year-old son, Cameron Ely, was shot by deputies was lawful and justified.
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 dead from multiple stab wounds. When deputies located Ron Ely in the home, he told them that his son was the one who had stabbed his wife.
After a while of searching the Ely's large home looking for Cameron Ely, Cameron Ely revealed himself to deputies in a dark area. 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.
Cameron Ely initially cooperated with deputies' commands, but he reportedly suddenly rose from the ground and reached for his waist while claiming to have a gun. Four deputies then fired at him, striking him multiple times and killing him.
The Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office investigated the deputies' use of force and found it justified in October 2020.
"Under these circumstances, Ely’s actions coupled with the deputies’ beliefs that Ely had recently brutally stabbed Valerie to death, caused [the deputies] to reasonably believe that Ely was going to kill or seriously injure one or more of the deputies," the report said.
"They reasonably believed that deadly force was necessary to respond to the threat Ely posed to them. Thus, the deputies’ use of force in firing at Ely was a reasonable use of deadly force."
The Ely family challenged the review and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Sheriff's Office and four deputies in September of 2020.
The jury on Friday sided with the Sheriff's Office and decided that the use of force was lawful.
“I am pleased that the jury unanimously found in favor of the deputies and the Sheriff’s Office, and that they awarded no damages whatsoever in this case. We respect the jury’s decision, which was the proper one," Sheriff Bill Brown said in a statement to News Channel 3-12.
"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. We in the Sheriff’s Office commend the superb work of the assigned members of the Santa Barbara County Counsel’s Office, and appreciate the service of the judge and jury members who were assigned to this trial.”
