A settlement has been reached between a fraternity, the man who pulled the trigger, and the family of a Sacramento State student who was killed by a pellet gun at a fraternity party in 2019, according to Sacramento Superior Court documents.
The Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity and its Theta Tau chapter agreed to pay $200,000 to William F. Molina and Donna Goles, the parents of William Alexander Molina, who was killed by a “penetrating pellet wound of chest,” according to his autopsy report.
The family of the man accused of accidentally shooting Molina agreed to pay an additional $100,000 to settle the case, court documents show.
After an investigation by the Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, prosecutors decided not to pursue criminal charges, saying the facts of the case indicated the death was accidental.
Molina was fatally injured while attending a party on Lycoming Court, at an unofficial house of Pi Kappa Alpha, in the College/Glen section of the city not far from the university’s campus.
Firefighters responded to the home around 3 a.m. April 12, 2019, to reports a a 21-year-old man who had passed out, according to police radio traffic at the time. After they arrived, fire personnel alerted police and officers found Molina had been shot in the chest by a pellet gun projectile.
Molina was transported to UC Davis Medical Center where he later died. He was scheduled to graduate with a business degree later that spring.
Pellet gun incident ‘tragic’ and rare
Deaths caused by pellet gun injuries are rare, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The agency reports about four deaths per year caused by BB guns or pellet guns, saying airguns that fire pellets at muzzle velocities higher than 350 feet per second can be lethal.
At the time, Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Rod Norgaard said investigators determined it was a “tragic accident and that the facts did not warrant the filing of any criminal charges.”
Molina’s parents filed a lawsuit in March 2021 alleging his wrongful death on the part of the fraternity and the man who shot him, Zackary Flores. Flores died July 3 at the age of 26 from undisclosed causes before the case was settled.
According to the complaint, Molina’s parents accuse the fraternity and Flores of delaying medical care to Molina after he was shot, causing him to “suffer in agony for hours before he expired,” the lawsuit said.
It also accused the fraternity and Flores of trying “to cover up the shooting and delayed summoning life-saving emergency responders.”
“Instead of immediately summoning emergency medical assistance, which would likely have saved the life of William Alexander Molina, defendants and each of them, failed and refused to summon such assistance until it was too late, eventually resulting in the death of decedent,” the complaint said.
Pi Kappa Alpha did not return messages for comment last week.
In their settlement, Pi Kappa Alpha said Molina had been consuming alcohol prior to engaging in “horseplay” where he was accidentally shot by Flores.
“Shortly after the Incident, Molina collapsed, and later died from his injuries,” Pi Kappa Alpha said.
In February 2023, the fraternity reached a settlement with Molina’s parents in exchange for the dismissal of all claims. In November, the estate of Zackary Flores agreed to pay its entire insurance policy limit of $100,000 to Molina’s parents to also be dropped from the claim, the settlement said.
Molina’s parents also sued the property owner, Paul Cavallero. That matter has not been settled, according to court records.
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