Sacramento sheriff sued over shooting death of man carrying Airsoft pistol

The wife of a man shot in Herald in October 2019 after allegedly reaching toward a replica handgun in his waistband filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court Thursday against the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and the unnamed deputy who shot him.

Kimberly Perez sued seeking damages over the death of her common-law husband, 55-year-old Maurice Holley Sr., who was shot to death on the afternoon of Oct. 6, 2019, in the 13000 block of Bennett Road.

Sheriff’s officials declined to comment Thursday on pending litigation, but said at the time the deputy was responding to multiple 911 calls from area residents reporting a suspicious person who appeared to be passed out along the road.

The deputy, who is not identified by name in the lawsuit, arrived to find Holley lying on the right shoulder of the road and began to question him, sheriff’s officials said.

Holley sat up and began talking to the deputy, who noticed what he believed to be a gun and drew his own handgun, then ordered Holley to “get on the f------ ground,” according to dashcam video the sheriff’s office released a week after the shooting.

Sheriff’s officials said at the time that the deputy began shooting — firing nine shots — after he believed Holley was reaching toward his waistband and the weapon, which turned out to be an Airsoft replica toy pistol.

“F---, BB gun,” the deputy said after checking on Holley’s vital signs and discovering the weapon was an Airsoft.

Glen Olives, the Sacramento attorney who filed the suit, and co-counsel Matthew Briggs both said Thursday they do not believe the video shows Holley reaching for anything.

“We are disputing that,” Olives said. “I think the video is clear that he isn’t reaching for any weapon.”

“He’s adjusting himself, he’s not reaching for anything,” Briggs added.

The suit also names Holley’s three children as “nominal defendants” who could be added later as plaintiffs if they choose to join. Olives said the three live in Utah but that he had not yet been able to contact them.

The lawsuit contends that Holley was asleep when the deputy arrived and that once he was awake he complied with the deputy’s instructions “and presented no apparent threat.”

The suit also alleges that sheriff’s officials did not summon medical help in a timely fashion.

Sheriff’s officials said after the shooting that detectives discovered Holley was carrying two Airsoft pistols at the time, and the deputy involved was a 19-year veteran.

This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 1:44 PM.