San Bernardino County has agreed to pay $5.2 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Keith Vinyard, a 52-year-old Hesperia man fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy in March 2024 after a vehicle pursuit near the California Aqueduct. Court records show the stipulation ending the case was filed on September 25, 2026, closing out more than two years of litigation over one of the most disputed deputy-involved shootings in the county's High Desert region.
According to the San Bernardino Sun, Vinyard's widow, Tiffany Shernaman-Vinyard, and his five children filed suit in July 2024, alleging excessive force and indifference to Vinyard's medical needs. The sheriff's department said Vinyard fled a traffic stop tied to an outstanding domestic violence arrest warrant, drove recklessly during the chase, and then refused commands once he stopped. Deputies claimed Vinyard threatened to shoot a deputy and was armed with a large metal object, according to the department's account relayed by the Sun.
The shooting unfolded around 9:50 p.m. on March 23, 2024, in a desert area near the 15400 block of Halinor Street along the aqueduct, according to VVNG.com. California Department of Justice records identify San Bernardino Sheriff's Deputy Miguel Carrillo as the deputy involved, placing him alongside Sheriff Shannon Dicus as named defendants in the federal case.
Family Disputes the Department's Account
Attorney Brad Gage, who represented Shernaman-Vinyard and the couple's children, disputed the department's portrayal of Vinyard as threatening, saying Vinyard made no such threat. The object Vinyard reportedly held became a key point of contention during the proceedings, with discovery testimony speculating it may have been a cane, a metal bar, a two-by-four, or a stick — not a firearm, per the Sun's reporting.
That distinction mattered beyond the courtroom. Because investigators determined Vinyard did not possess a firearm, the shooting triggered a mandatory independent review by the California Department of Justice under Assembly Bill 1506, now codified as Government Code Section 12525.3, which requires state-level scrutiny of fatal police shootings of unarmed civilians, according to the California Attorney General's office.
Lawsuit filings reported by the San Bernardino County Sentinel showed discovery testimony in which multiple deputies opened fire on Vinyard after an initial deputy fired, with at least one deputy testifying they fired to act in unison rather than because they perceived an individual, immediate threat. That testimony directly challenged the department's public narrative about why officers resorted to deadly force.
Settlement Breakdown and Blocked Accounts
Under the terms reached July 14, 2026, Shernaman-Vinyard received a gross settlement of $2.6 million, while each of Vinyard's five children received $520,000, per the Sun. Four of those children are minors — the youngest appears to be 7 years old — and their shares will sit in blocked accounts until each turns 18. U.S. District Judge Kenly Kiya Kato formally dismissed the federal case with prejudice on September 28, 2026, a ruling that bars any future appeal or refiling of the claims, according to Justia Dockets.
The sheriff's department declined to comment on whether the shooting resulted in any disciplinary action, telling the Sun that state law and department policy prevent discussion of personnel matters. The department said it conducts a thorough review of each use of force and updates training where necessary.
Part of a Troubling Pattern in the High Desert
The Vinyard shooting came just two weeks after San Bernardino County deputies fatally shot 15-year-old Ryan Gainer in neighboring Apple Valley on March 9, 2024, after the autistic teenager approached deputies with a garden tool during a mental health crisis — a death that sparked civil rights protests and its own federal wrongful death claim, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The payout also follows a broader regional pattern of costly police shooting settlements. The neighboring City of San Bernardino agreed in May 2025 to pay $4.875 million to the family of Robert Brown, fatally shot by police in December 2023 during a foot pursuit in which attorneys accused officers of misrepresenting whether Brown was armed, the Times reported. Gage previously secured a $4 million settlement in February 2024 from the City of San Bernardino over the 2022 fatal shooting of Rob Marquise Adams, according to the Sentinel.
Hoodline has previously reported on deputy-involved shootings near the same stretch of aqueduct in Hesperia, including an aqueduct shooting that left a man hurt in August and a hostage standoff on Locust Avenue the following month, underscoring ongoing public safety concerns in the area handled by the Hesperia Sheriff's Station.
State Review Still Pending
While the civil case is now closed, the California Department of Justice's independent criminal review under AB 1506 remains open. A 2026 investigation by CalMatters found that such state reviews average more than two years to complete, contributing to a statewide backlog of unresolved fatal police shooting cases. Sheriff Shannon Dicus, named individually in the Vinyard lawsuit, won re-election outright in the June 2026 primary after securing a majority of the countywide vote, according to Community Forward Redlands News.
