She added that Cameron was a source of strength for the family during times of need and expressed sorrow that his life was tragically cut short at the age of 30. 483 posts. Follow. Kirsten said the family had an inkling something was amiss when detectives stopped communicating with them only two weeks after the incident. The biomechanical illustration showed details such as the allegedbullet trajectory. She has been with the brand for five years, beginning her time as a digital news writer, where she covered everything from entertainment news to crime stories and royal tours. 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One year to the day after their brother Cameron Ely the son of Tarzan actor Ron Ely was shot 22 times by Santa Barbara Sheriff's deputies, Kirsten Ely and Kaitland Ely Sweet and their attorneys held a tearful news conference in the driveway of the family's Hope Ranch home to rebuke a new report by the District Attorney's Office that ruled the shooting a justifiable homicide. Ron Ely's daughters Kirsten Ely and Kaitlin Ely-Sweet spoke, describing their emotional losses in one night of their mother and their brother. For too long, Lacy declared, unlawful police killings have only been considered a problem for black and brown communities. Confused circumstances. It was only when they obtained the recording through their civil complaint did they realize their instincts were correct. The lawsuit remains in the discovery phase and no hearing dates have been scheduled. I can only guess the whining, hollering, rioting and thefts (you) might be committing if this incident involved a family of color on the lower east side. The Ely women spoke following remarks from the familys attorney, DeWitt M. Lacy, a civil rights attorney with the Law Offices of John L. Burris. It lay next to a pool of blood on the outside tennis court. Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesperson with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office (SBCSO) confirmed to PEOPLE that officers responded to the 911 call placed at the Elys' exclusive Hope Ranch. View Kirsten Ely results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. None of the deputies body cameras were turned on at the time. Ron was a veteran actor who played the role of Tarzan from 1966 to 1968. This happened in 2009 when he allegedly took it upon himself to respond to a situation on Highway 101 over which the California Highway Patrol has jurisdiction. He suggested that the deputies panicked, with one opening fire and the others following suit despite no threats being made by Cameron. We will note that he was shot over 22 times. My world. District Attorney Joyce Dudley has blamed the omissions on equipment failure, saying the microphones worn by the deputies didnt capture those particular statements. Neither authorities nor the family has provided a clear motive for Valeries murder, though a coroners report noted Cameron, a Harvard graduate who reportedly suffered from mental health problems and was living with his parents, had been acting erratically and aggressively in the days prior. During his 16-year career with the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Office, Deputy Rogers has been involved in two other fatal shootings. PDF The Law Offices of John L. Burris They knew it., Though Cameron suffered obvious stab wounds at some point that evening the gashes were noted by both deputies and paramedics at the scene they were only listed as general injuries in his autopsy report, Lacy claimed. Santa Barbara Centre for Aerial Dance Presents: La Escalada, Dos Pueblos Theatre Company Presents The Music Man!, Cottage Hospitals Annual Mental Health Fair, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage of SB, Please note this login is to submit events or press releases. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. He illustrated how three of the main points made in the District Attorneys report to portray Cameron as a threat to the deputies that they ordered him to the ground, that he announced he had a gun, and that the deputies commanded him to remain on the ground when he reportedly started to lunge cannot be heard at all. Cameron Ely, who was unarmed, was fatally shot by the responding deputies on the driveway of the residenceat 4141 Mariposa Drive, where he lived with his parents. The Investigator emailed Raquel Zick, the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Office public information officer, and ccd Sheriff Bill Brown, requesting their side of the story. I knew Cameron. The county is not going to fess up, said family attorney DeWitt Lacy, a prominent civil rights lawyer who specializes in police misconduct cases. Things were even worse than we imagined, Kirsten said. Site by Olesya and John were married at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Santa Barbara, California. {Featured Entrepreneur} - Santa Barbara Entrepreneurs | Facebook Support the Santa Barbara Independent through a long-term or a single contribution. Microphones dont work that way, he said. Robert Eringer is a longtime Montecito author with vast experience in investigative journalism. Santa Barbara News-Press / Ampersand Publishing, LLC unless otherwise specified. Im here to tell you today that this is an American problem that we all have to join together to do something about, he said. Kirsten Ely's birthday is 07/18/1985 and is 37 years old. One year after the deaths of Valerie and Cameron Ely, members of the Ely family were joined by their attorneys at their Hope Ranch estate on Thursday calling for the District Attorneys Office to revisit its investigation that cleared the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs deputies involved. Near impossible to stab someone many times and not have that evidence. Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Processing Even if the brother did kill the mother, the cops should NOT have killed him. Ron Ely's Son Called 911 After Stabbing Mom Valerie and Tried - Yahoo Now theres a way to directly enable these efforts. | Credit: Daniel Dreifuss. A transcript from Deputy Phillip Farleys Coban recording system, provided by the plaintiffs on Thursday, did not include such a statement. As we grieved our mother and brother over the past year, we were unable to pick up the pieces due to the intentional deception, ineptitude, and disregard for human life demonstrated by the Santa Barbara Sheriffs Department and the conspiratorial obstruction of truth and outright lies put into print by the Santa Barbara DAs Office, said Kirsten as she trembled and read from prepared remarks. 06.01.88 is the birth date of Kirsten. She graduated from Ithaca College with a Bachelor's degree in Television-Radio (and an appearance in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Final Four!). During Thursdayspress conference, Scott Roder with the Evidence Room unveiled its digital reconstruction of theallegedevents last fall. In defense of the threat posed by the suspect, several deputies fired their service weapons at the suspect, fatally wounding him.. Kirsten Ely said her brotherposed no threat when deputies encountered him. The. Sign Up for the A.M. Report Yes, we expect that these officers will be held accountable, he said. The pain our family has felt is so immense that we are constantly living in a nightmare that we cant wake up from, she said. It came from a knife lodged in Valeries chest she was found in the homes dining room and revealed a combination of Valerie and Camerons DNA. He said the issues of police brutality are an American issue and not just limited to race, and that people need to join together and create change. Kirsten Ely - Address & Phone Number | Whitepages Mr. Burris said that Thursdays press conference was held to set the record straight after the District Attorneys report found the shooting to be a justifiable homicide. Dated: May 6, 2021 THE LAW OFFICES OF JOHN L. BURRIS By: /S/ DeWitt M. Lacy DeWitt M. Lacy Attorneys for Plaintiff, RON ELY, by his Guardian Ad Litem KIRSTEN ELY Dated: May 6, 2021 MICHAEL C. GHIZZONI COUNTY COUNSEL By: /S/ Mary Pat Barry Mary Pat Barry Senior Deputy County Counsel Attorneys for Defendants, COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA . The Ely family has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Santa Barbara County, the Sheriff's Office and the four deputies involved who shot and killed Cameron. Use this page here to login for your Independent subscription. Search by Name, Phone, Address, or Email. And Ive seen some bad ones.. Gratitude | Kirsten Subscribe Two of the passengers died. 2023 - All Rights Reserved. "The county is not going to fess up," said family attorney DeWitt Lacy, a prominent civil rights lawyer who specializes in police misconduct cases. DeWitt M. Lacy, a civil rights attorney with the Law Offices of John L. Burris, which is representing the Ely family, shows the Evidence Rooms digital reconstruction of the shooing of Cameron Ely at a press conference in front of the Ely family home in Hope Ranch on Thursday. Trew Knowledge. Copyright 2023 Santa Barbara Independent, Inc. Reproduction of material from any Independent.com pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. Not only to honor the lives of Valerie and Cameron, but all those who are similarly situated., A biomechanical illustration was shown that showed the pathway and trajectory of the bullets with a great matter of certainty, given what the D.A. I love you more than you will ever know she wrote. Actor Ron Elys Daughters Reject DAs Findings in Officer-Involved Shooting of Brother, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Kirsten Ely, the daughter of actor Ron Ely, wipes away tears while her sister, Kaitland Ely-Sweet, speaks at a press conference on the one-year anniversary of the deaths of their mother, Valerie Lundeen Ely, and brother, Cameron Ely. We want a jury to see and hear the evidence and let them decide the proper amount, said Mr. Lacy. Stop with the mis-truths & exaggeration - its not an epidemic. Neither authorities nor the family has provided a clear motive for Valeries murder, though a coroners report noted Cameron, a Harvard graduate who reportedly suffered from mental health problems and was living with his parents, had been acting erratically and aggressively in the days prior. Defendant deputies are heard instructing decedent Cameron to keep his hands up, according to the lawsuit. Actor Ron Ely's Daughters Reject DA's Findings in Officer-Involved Sometimes its hard for people to face the music and admit to mistakes that result in such tragic error.. A forensics expert hired by Lacy tested those two samples and found that the blood on the court belonged to Cameron, and that DNA from the blood on the second knife was a mixture of Camerons and an unknown third person, Lacy said. I guess that I'd have more sympathy for them if they would admit that it was their brother that killed their mother. Law enforcement officials claim Cameron announced he had a gun, then lunged at the deputies during their confrontation at the property. In reality, they are a great family and wonderful neighbors and requiring a lifetime of service to your particular political cause just so they can attain justice for their murdered son is just asinine. Whoops! The Santa Barbara District Attorneys Office previously ruled the shooting a justifiable homicide and said the deputies followed proper procedure in responding to Valerie. Things were even worse than we had imagined.. However, we have a great matter of certainty these are actually the trajectory of the wounds, given what the DA (District Attorneys Office) has reported and what the coroner has reported in the autopsy report.. Law enforcement officials claim Cameron announced he had a gun, then lunged at the deputies during their confrontation at the property. Public funds (your money) pay the cost of defending Santa Barbara County and the actions of sheriffs deputies and it will also be your money that covers whatever settlement is reached or judgment awarded down the road. The rendition that theyve cooked up doesnt pass muster, and they have to be held accountable.. Ron Ely himself may know the answer, but after suffering a stroke several months prior to the incident, he is uncommunicative (he cannot speak), and he suffers from cognitive issues. Previously city included Los Alamos CA. Son of Tarzan actor Ron Ely was killed by Santa Barbara sheriffs in a The Elys claim the deputies then lied to investigators, and that the District Attorneys Office is now complicit in the alleged cover-up. We will fight in honor and preserve your legacy of light, love and truth.. Kirsten Ely 1. Ely's lawyer, DeWitt Lacy of Los Angeles, says it's a civil rights case arising from the still murky circumstances surrounding the deaths of Valerie Lundeen Ely, 62, and Cameron Ely, 30, on. If you believe an Independent.com user or any material appearing on Independent.com is copyrighted material used without proper permission, please click here. Thank you for making the world a better place Thank you for being you:) I love you forever and a day!, In another post, Kaitland said of Valerie, She shines daily:) I am so lucky to have her I love her more than air!. Were hoping that we will be able to work with the District Attorneys Office and the city Attorneys Office to get the justice that this family so deserves., When reached for comment, District Attorney Joyce Dudley referred to her offices report, published Oct. 5. She later said via email that if any new evidence is presented to her that she would absolutely carefully consider it., Sheriff Bill Brown did not mince words in his statement to the press following Thursday afternoons press conference, calling it undue pretrial publicity., Unlike the plaintiffs attorneys in this case, the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Office and the County of Santa Barbara takes seriously our professional obligation to avoid undue pretrial publicity about this matter since it is currently in litigation, the statement read. This is the exclusive $4.8 million mansion in Santa Barbara where the wife of Tarzan star Ron Ely was stabbed to death by their son. In the District Attorneys report, the deputies claimed that Cameron said he had a gun before he was fatally shot and was a lethal threat to the deputies. According to Mr. Elys lawsuit filed in July 2020 against Santa Barbara County and four sheriffs deputies Desiree Thome, Jeremy Rogers, Phillip Farley and John Gruttaduario the deputies deliberately, purposely, and without warning opened fire on Cameron Ely then actively denied him any medical assistance for at least 13 minutes.. Get the top stories in your inbox by signing up for our daily newsletter, Indy Today. With her sister, Kirsten, looking on, Kaitland Ely, left, reads a note to her mother, Valerie, and brother, Cameron, during a news conference in October 2020 at the Ely family's Hope Ranch estate in Santa Barbara. Mr. Lacy said that because the Coroners Bureau did not appropriately probe the trajectory of the bullet wounds that the illustration cannot be 100% certain.. One year to the day after their brother Cameron Ely the son ofTarzanactor Ron Ely was shot 22 times by Santa Barbara Sheriffs deputies, Kirsten Ely and Kaitland Ely Sweet and their attorneys held a tearful news conference in the driveway of the familys Hope Ranch home to forcefully rebukea new report by the District Attorneys Officethat ruled the shooting a justifiable homicide. 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Every day, the staff of theSanta Barbara Independentworks hard to sort out truth from rumor and keep you informed of whats happening across the entire Santa Barbara community. My error, they are doing less. He illustrated how three of the main points made in the District Attorneys report to portray Cameron as a threat to the deputies that they ordered him to the ground, that he announced he had a gun, and that the deputies commanded him to remain on the ground when he reportedly started to lunge cannot be heard at all. Mr. Burris also gave remarks, as did Scott Roder, of Evidence Room, who conducted and presented analysis of the bullet trajectory in the fatal shooting. In addition, while the deputies initially stated that none of them ever checked Valeries pulse or attempted to render any medical aid, it was revealed during depositions that one deputy changed his story, claiming to have quickly checked on Valerie before moving on to search the house. They described Cameron as an athlete, a. This passion project has now garnered over 2.5. A mediation in the Ely case last month failed to produce a settlement, and, consequently, a trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 22 in the federal District Court in Los Angeles. Their deaths were the direct result of intentional, malicious, extreme, outrageous, wantonand oppressive conduct by responding officers, according to the lawsuit. They stepped over her as if she wasnt there, he said. Nothing was done after he was engaged in two arguably unlawful shootings and a tragic collision, he said. They claim the deputies lied in their statements to investigators, and they point to multiple audio recordings of the incident that contradict the deputies version of events. Very very sad. Scott Roder, a forensic specialist working with Lacys team, said Dudleys attempt to explain away the missing sound as a technical issue just doesnt make sense. When they arrived at . ELYSIUM OF SANTA BARBARA - Party & Event Planning - Yelp Deputy Rogers tracked down a burglar. {"requests":{"event":"https:\/\/www.noozhawk.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/newspack-popups\/includes\/..\/api\/campaigns\/index.php"},"triggers":{"trackPageview":{"on":"visible","request":"event","visibilitySpec":{"selector":"#c9f7","visiblePercentageMin":50,"totalTimeMin":250,"continuousTimeMin":100},"extraUrlParams":{"popup_id":"id_234460","cid":"CLIENT_ID(newspack-cid)"}},"formSubmitSuccess":{"on":"amp-form-submit-success","request":"event","selector":"#c9f7 .wp-block-jetpack-mailchimp form","extraUrlParams":{"popup_id":"id_234460","cid":"CLIENT_ID(newspack-cid)","mailing_list_status":"subscribed","email":"${formFields[email]}","esp":"mailchimp"}}}} Kirsten Ely - Facebook You cant summarily execute someone because you think they committed a crime, he said. We know about one company registered at this address Kiki E LLC. Kirsten Ely's favorite items - Etsy In other words, a finding devoid of investigation. What should she expect from folks we call our heroes?, Valerie suffered from a stab wound to her lung, Lacy said. Kaitland Ely (@sweetsoutherncalifornia) Instagram photos and videos The freshest news in Santa Barbara County. Mr. Roder argued that if Cameron was moving like the D.A.s report indicates, it would be impossible for the bullet trajectory to have occurred. We're so close to reaching our Spring Campaign goal!