A federal judge in the United States has issued several pretrial rulings in the bankruptcy case of Shilo Sanders, the son of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, over an $11.89 million debt owed to former school security guard John Darjean.
The debt traces back to a 2015 incident when Sanders was 15 years old, a confrontation that Sanders has described as an act of self‑defense but for which he never appeared at trial in 2022, resulting in a default judgment.
Expert Testimony and the Question of Willful Injury
In recent orders, the court indicated it may permit expert testimony to dissect the circumstances of that encounter, a move intended to evaluate the validity of Sanders’ self‑defense assertion and to assess whether the underlying conduct meets the legal threshold of willful and malicious injury.
If the judge ultimately finds that the injury was not willful or malicious, the debt could be discharged in bankruptcy, sparing Sanders from full repayment; conversely, a finding of malice would lock the obligation into the bankruptcy estate.
Sanders, a graduate student who played for Colorado in 2023 and 2024, was later waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after going undrafted, while his brother Shedeur Sanders currently quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.
The case also involves the University of Colorado and the National Football League franchises, both of which have been named in court filings as related entities, though the litigation remains focused on the financial liability to Darjean.