BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — A federal jury in Bexar County awarded more than $10 million to the family of Gilbert Flores, who was shot and killed by Bexar County deputies in 2015.
His family was represented by prominent San Antonio lawyer, Thomas J. Henry.
In August of 2015, Gilbert Flores, a 41-year-old husband and father, was in his driveway when he was shot to death by two deputies of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies responded to the home for a domestic disturbance call after Flores' mother called for help. She said Flores was hitting his wife and was armed with a knife. Flores is heard in the background of the 911 call saying: "You're gonna have to kill me. I promise you that. It's my time to go."
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office said non-lethal attempts to stop Flores failed to work. The deputies who shot him were later identified as deputy Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez. Following the incident, two witness videos surfaced where Flores was seen with his hands up and then deputies fatally shot him. Henry said the enhanced video shows Flores did not move.
The deputies sworn statements said they were threatened by Flores. Vasquez said he shot Flores because he was "advancing toward him and deputy Sanchez." He said Flores was "about six to eight feet away." But Henry said in 2016 the diagram of the crime scene completed by investigators conflicts with the deputy's statements. Henry said it showed the deputies were more than 20 feet away when Flores was shot.
Last week, the federal jury returned a verdict of $10.37 million awarded to Flores' family. The judgement includes $2.87 million in actual damages and $7.5 million in punitive damages, according to the law firm.