On June 9, 2010, plaintiff’s decedent Anthony Aguilar was with a woman in Azusa when they were approached by Jaime Magana, an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy. During the encounter, Magana pulled his gun and fired a fatal gunshot into Aguilar’s chest. The decedent’s mother, Maria Lopez, sued Magana and his employers, the county of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Lopez alleged that Magana was negligent in his use of excessive force and causing her son’s wrongful death. Lopez claimed that there was no need for Magana to use deadly force as he approached the decedent and the plaintiff’s firearms expert opined that the manner in which Magana fired his gun was improper. The woman who was with the decedent during the incident disputed Magana’s account of the accident, claiming that the decedent was not reaching for his waistband at the time of the shooting. Furthermore, the plaintiff’s sleep medicine expert opined that Magana was sleep deprived at the time of the shooting, which affected his decision making. Magana claimed he approached Aguilar and the woman because he observed them in the course of a suspected criminal activity. However, he claimed that as he approached the two individuals, Aguilar reached for his waistband, prompting him to shoot Aguilar. The defense’s police psychology expert testified that Aguilar had a screwdriver sticking outside his pocket and opined that the decedent’s actions during the incident were consistent with suicide by cop. Thus, defense counsel argued that Magana’s use of deadly force was reasonable and an act of self-defense., Aguilar sustained gunshot wounds to his chest and died. Thus, his mother, Lopez, sought recovery of between $750,000 and $1.5 million in non-economic wrongful death damages, as well as an unspecified amount of economic damages for her son’s funeral and burial costs.