A federal jury has found the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and two of its deputies liable in the 2023 shooting death of Antonio Garza Jr., awarding his family $51.8 million in what attorneys call one of the largest police-shooting verdicts in state history. The 44-year-old was fatally shot near the Whitewater Cutoff after a lengthy pursuit that began with a trailer fire in Yucca Valley, and his family says deputies knew he suffered from mental illness long before they opened fire.
The jury reached a unanimous verdict against deputies Nicholas Kridner and Bill Abernathy, finding them and the sheriff's department liable on all counts, according to family attorneys cited by NBC4 Los Angeles. Garza's mother, Matilde Garza, was awarded the $51.8 million verdict stemming from her son's death. Family attorneys said the award is believed to be the largest verdict in a California police shooting case and the third-highest nationwide, according to Telemundo 52.
The chase that ended Garza's life began after a fire broke out in his trailer on February 5, 2023. Garza led three law enforcement agencies on a 30-mile chase, according to the Desert Sun, while NBC Los Angeles reported the pursuit lasted more than half an hour, stretching from Yucca Valley toward Palm Springs. Garza was suspected of starting the fire that set the chase in motion.
Shots Fired Into a Dry Wash
The Desert Sun's reporting states that deputies fired a dozen shots at Garza as he fled into a dry wash near Interstate 10. The Garza family claimed Antonio was shot a dozen times, including at least twice in the back and at least twice while he was already on the ground. Family attorney Rebecca Brown said Antonio was shot in the back while on the ground, twice in the head and once in the left leg, and that he needed help rather than bullets.
The family's complaint, detailed by followourcourts.com, alleges Garza had a mental health issue and was running away from police when he was shot. The Garza family claimed the sheriff's department knew of Antonio's history of mental illness before deputies confronted him in the desert. None of the deputies involved were wearing body cameras at the time, a fact confirmed by Telemundo 52's reporting on the case.
Video and Autopsy Called Key to the Verdict
Family attorneys said a motorist's video recorded on Highway 10, combined with the findings of an independent autopsy, proved critical in securing the verdict, per the same Telemundo 52 account. Matilde Garza said her son suffered from mental illness, that deputies knew he was ill, and that they killed him anyway out in the desert. She said laws should do a better job addressing people who are ill, arguing that police currently act however they want.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department has not provided a comment on the verdict after acknowledging NBC Los Angeles' request for one, leaving the agency's side of the case unaddressed in public record so far.
Part of a Pattern of Costly Verdicts
Garza's case is not the first time a San Bernardino County deputy shooting has resulted in a massive jury award. Earlier this year, a federal jury awarded more than $27 million to Adelanto man Steffon Todd Barber, who was shot multiple times by a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy in 2021, according to the Los Angeles Times. That jury found the deputy used excessive force and was negligent when he fired six shots. Years earlier, Francis Pusok received a $650,000 settlement from the county tied to a 2015 incident involving deputies, as reported by sbsun.com.
The Garza shooting also unfolded against a backdrop of strain on California's system for handling mentally ill defendants. As of May 1, 2023, the state's Department of State Hospitals reported 959 people in its Incompetent to Stand Trial program sitting in jails while awaiting transport to treatment facilities, the Desert Sun noted. The number of incarcerated people in that program had already doubled from 3,042 in 2013 to 6,137 in 2021.
Body cameras, absent during the deputies' confrontation with Garza, have since become standard practice for the department. By January 2024, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department had rolled out body-worn cameras to all but its Needles and Highland stations, according to sbsun.com's reporting. Rialto police officials have said complaints against officers dropped 66 percent and use-of-force incidents dropped 62 percent after their department adopted the cameras, a data point cited in sbsun.com's earlier coverage of the county's camera rollout.
