A former San Diego County sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed a fleeing, unarmed man outside San Diego Central Jail was convicted by a federal jury Tuesday.
Aaron Russell, 29, was found guilty of federal charges of deprivation of rights under color of law and using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence for the May 1, 2020, shooting death of Nicholas Bils, 36.
The trial was Russell’s second in federal court in connection with the shooting, after a jury deadlocked last year and was unable to reach verdicts. This time the jury took just seven hours to render a guilty verdict.
Russell also was prosecuted in state court, where he faced a second-degree murder charge, but ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced in 2022 to one year in jail, plus probation.
The shooting also led to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Bils’ family, which settled in mid-2022, with San Diego County agreeing to pay the family $8.1 million.
Russell, who is slated to be sentenced in federal court on May 29, was allowed to remain free on bond. He faces a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence and up to life in prison.
Bils was in the process of being transported to the central jail after an incident in Old Town State Historic Park. A California State Parks officer saw him hitting golf balls to his dog while the park was closed due to COVID-19 regulations. Bils ran from the officer, who chased him on foot.
After he was taken into custody, Bils slipped out of his handcuffs and left the state parks officer’s car. He was shot multiple times in the back, arm and thigh by Russell while running away.
Three other law enforcement officers were at the scene, but Russell was the only one to draw his firearm, according to prosecutors. At trial, multiple officers testified that it was apparent that Bils was not a threat to anyone, so they didn’t consider shooting him. One said that it “wasn’t even a close call.”
At the time of the shooting, Russell was 23 years old and had been a deputy with the sheriff’s department for 18 months.
Russell’s retrial proceeded despite a request from his defense attorneys to postpone it because they argued that recent fatal high-profile law enforcement shootings would unfairly bias jurors.
Defense attorneys Jeremy Warren and Miguel Penalosa Jr. argued in a motion that the January killings in Minneapolis of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents would make it “impossible for jurors to put aside any strong feelings they have about the other shootings of unarmed individuals.”
U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson denied the defense’s request for a three-month delay.
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