Fresno County Settlement for Family of Man Killed by Reserve Deputies at Southwest Fresno Auto Shop
After trial: The federal court approved the settlement as a minor's compromise on February 18, 2026, and the case was dismissed in April 2026. The payer is Fresno County.
Won by James M. Makasian, A Prof. Corp. and Wagner Jones Kopfman & Artenian.
Kenny Mullins, 32, was shot and killed by two reserve Fresno County deputies at a southwest Fresno auto dismantling shop on March 6, 2020. His family sued in federal court, and in August 2025 the judge ruled the civil rights trial against the deputies would proceed. In October 2025 the county agreed to pay $3.125 million to his young daughter and his mother, and the federal court approved the settlement in February 2026.
What happened
On March 6, 2020, Fresno County sheriff's deputies were called to an auto dismantling shop in southwest Fresno. The property owner reported that a man was sleeping inside and had a shotgun. The man was Kenny Mullins, 32, who had a history of mental health problems. Deputies used a robot and a loudspeaker, and it took between 30 and 60 minutes for him to come out.
Two reserve deputies, Chris Curtice and Alex Riordan, fired the shots that killed him. Mullins was hit once in the head and once in the leg and died at the scene. The deputies said he ignored an order to get on the ground, turned, took a shooting stance and pointed what they took to be a gun. Mullins was unarmed.
The family's account differed. Another deputy at the scene, Zachary Westbrook, told sheriff's internal affairs investigators that he did not recall an order to get on the ground, that Mullins raised his hands, and that Mullins did not appear to be pretending to have a gun. Nicholas 'Butch' Wagner, who represented the family, said Curtice and Riordan made up their story.
The case was filed in Fresno County Superior Court and removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in March 2021, where it was assigned to Judge Kirk E. Sherriff. The federal docket lists Nicholas Wagner, David Doyle and Mark Schallert among counsel for the plaintiff. The suit brought civil rights claims under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments along with state-law claims for battery, negligence and wrongful death. In August 2025, the judge ruled that the civil rights trial against Curtice and Riordan would go forward.
Before it did, the county reached a deal. In October 2025 the Fresno County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay $3.125 million, to be shared by Mullins's 11-year-old daughter and his mother. County officials declined to comment. Because a child is one of the beneficiaries, the settlement needed approval from the federal court. The defendants filed a notice of settlement on October 28, 2025, and the family filed a petition for approval of the minor's compromise in December. Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone recommended granting it in January 2026, Judge Sherriff adopted that recommendation on February 18, 2026, and the case was closed on a voluntary dismissal in April 2026.
Wagner also pointed to a change that came out of the litigation. A court had granted injunctive relief that required body cameras, and he said the case had the biggest influence on why Fresno County sheriff's deputies now wear them.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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