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Ben Baby, ESPN Staff Writer
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon is facing a civil lawsuit regarding the shooting of his teenage neighbor. According to court records filed in Hamilton County this week, the teenage boy’s family is seeking damages from Mixon and Lamonte Brewer after the boy was shot in the right foot by Brewer while standing in Mixon’s backyard.
Mixon was not charged and was never considered a suspect, Hamilton County prosecutor Melissa Powers said in March when Brewer was charged. However, in the lawsuit filed Thursday, the family claims that Mixon supplied the bullets and Zastava M92 gun that was matched to the weapon used in the shooting.
The plaintiffs suing Mixon allege that the running back has “had many opportunities to settle” the claims but “has taken no responsibility for any of the harm that he has caused,” leading to the lawsuit.
Mixon is being represented by his homeowners insurance attorneys in the civil case. Peter Schaffer, Mixon’s agent, declined to comment to ESPN.
In the 911 call at the time of the incident, Mixon’s trainer, Sean Pena, told a police dispatcher that the boy was screaming and appeared to be wielding a Kel-Tec gun. The boy was actually holding a toy gun while playing nerf wars, a game played by high school students around Cincinnati. Police believe one of the bullets Brewer fired went through the gun.
The lawsuit echoed a claim made by the county prosecutor in that someone should have realized the gun the child carried was a toy. “The defense that the Mixon home occupants felt in fear of their lives from 16-year-old high school students playing Nerf Wars with green, blue, and grey colored toy nerf rifles in the neighbor’s yard is utterly ridiculous, unbelievable,” the lawsuit states, “and it is unreasonable that Joe Mixon or anyone in Mixon’s home could have feared for their lives.”
The lawsuit claims that Mixon asked two children what they were doing before the shooting. Both are willing to testify in court regarding this exchange, the suit states, and that Mixon was not in fear of his life while the teenagers were playing nerf wars.
Brewer was charged with felonious assault, one count of tampering with evidence and two counts of having weapons while under disability. Brewer was the boyfriend of Shalonda Mixon, Joe’s sister. Shalonda Mixon was charged with tampering with evidence.
The family suing Mixon is claiming negligence and several other claims against Mixon, who is entering his seventh season with the Bengals. County records show that in June, the family of the teenage boy sold their home next to Mixon for $2.175 million.
According to the lawsuit, the decision to sell came “because they did not feel safe” living next to Mixon.
The nerf wars shooting came two months after a woman alleged Mixon pointed a gun at her and threatened to shoot her in a road rage incident the day before the Bengals played the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.
While the case was initially dismissed, it was refiled in April. Mixon was charged with aggravated menacing, a misdemeanor. He pleaded not guilty and the jury trial is set for Aug. 14, according to court records.
Mixon has not spoken about the incidents and declined to speak to reporters during offseason workouts in the spring.
