Death of Laguna Niguel Dancer, Shot by Deputy, to Be Appealed

An attorney representing the mother of a Laguna Niguel man killed in a deputy-involved shooting two years ago said Monday that he intends to appeal a federal judge’s dismissal of his client’s lawsuit against the county.

U.S. District Judge James Selna on Wednesday granted the county’s motion for summary judgment dismissing Kimberly Zion’s claims of unreasonable force and wrongful death in the Sept. 24, 2013, shooting of her son, Connor Zion.

Selna’s ruling came as the case was about to go to trial and just more than a year since the Orange County District Attorney’s Office in July 20 cleared sheriff’s Deputy Michael Higgins in Zion’s shooting.

“I think it was outrageous,” attorney Jerry Steering told City News Service of the ruling. “I think Judge Selna is a fine man who looked at the situation honestly through his lenses, but I don’t think many people look at the world through the same lenses. In my opinion, the death of Connor Zion was an execution, not a just use of force.”

Zion was a “professional ballroom dancer, who was world class and gave lessons,” Steering said. “He could have been an international champion.”

The dispute in the case was about a “second volley” of gunfire from Higgins, as well as the deputy kicking Zion in the head three times when he ran out of bullets.

An autopsy showed that Zion had methamphetamine and amphetamine in his system.

According to the district attorney’s report, Zion’s roommate called his mother to say her son had been acting erratically and needed help. He suffered from seizure disorder, Steering said, reportedly nocturnal epilepsy.

Zion’s mother flew down from the Seattle area to check on her son. But when she arrived, she could not restrain him when he attacked the roommate, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The roommate ran out of the building with stab wounds from a kitchen knife with a 12-inch blade, according to prosecutors, who said Zion’s mother also suffered knife wounds trying to get the weapon away from her son.

Zion attacked Deputy Juan Lopez, who fell down as he tried to aim his gun at the man, according to prosecutors. Lopez suffered knife wounds to his arms as he tried to protect himself.

Neither side disputed that Higgins’ initial round of gunfire was justifiable.

“For at least the duration of the first nine shots fired by Higgins, a span of approximately three seconds, the parties appear to be in agreement that Higgins was confronted with a severe, life-threatening emergency, an attack on a fellow police officer,” Selna wrote in his ruling.

Much of the evidence came from the cameras on two sheriff’s patrol cars.

Selna disputed there was a “second volley” of shots fired, but even if that was the case, the deputy was still justified in opening fire again, the judge said.

Selna wrote, “...during that fraction of a moment (between gunshots) Higgins observed Connor Zion continuing to move at a high rate of speed, all while continuing to hold onto the weapon Higgins had just witnessed Connor use to wound a fellow officer.”

Selna said the video from Lopez’s car showed “that the situation remained fluid and dangerous through the start of the second set of shots.”

Zion’s mother alleges in her lawsuit that Higgins kicked her son in the head “apparently out of pure rage” and with “no justification.”

Selna said the video evidence “contradicts Kimberly Zion’s version of events,” because her son was “continuing to move even after Higgins has depleted his ammunition.”

Selna added that Higgins faced “a fellow officer grievously wounded and in need of immediate medical attention, a primary firearm no longer loaded, and an armed and dangerous suspect who might have been capable of causing further harm. Higgins had in fact, moments earlier, witnessed Connor Zion darting towards a residential structure despite having been shot at nine times.”

Steering disagreed, saying the knife fell out of Zion’s hands when he was shot and was lying on the sidewalk when Higgins “stands right at the man’s feet and shoots him another nine times. And then, when he’s still breathing, he walks around and stomps him in the head.”

In clearing Higgins, prosecutors said Higgins likely saved Lopez’s life by knocking the suspect unconscious to run over to the wounded deputy and use a witness’s dog leash as a tourniquet.

-City News Service; Connor Zion via DMV