A Dallas County jury has awarded $1.1 billion in a child abuse case, attorneys said, marking what they describe as the largest civil verdict of its kind in U.S. history and underscoring the substantial financial exposure defendants may face in cases involving catastrophic injuries to minors.
The verdict, returned March 26 in the 134th Judicial District Court, includes $291 million in compensatory damages and $810 million in punitive damages against a defendant already serving a decadeslong prison sentence. The award is expected to draw close scrutiny from judges and practitioners evaluating the outer bounds of civil liability, punitive damages, and the evidentiary showings required to sustain such awards in cases involving intentional torts and permanent injury.
“After years of litigation, and a contentious jury trial, a Dallas County jury returned a verdict for $1.1 Billion on behalf of my seven-year-old client and his young parents,” Buzbee said. “The verdict included approximately $291 million in compensatory damages and $810 million in punitive damages. The defendant, Charles Brooks, Jr., assaulted my minor client, causing the child catastrophic injuries and putting him in a wheelchair. Brooks later pleaded guilty to injury to a child and was sentenced to prison.”
“Don’t Mess With Texas Children…”
“Children are a precious gift from God our Father. Don’t mess with Texas children. Period,” Buzbee added.
The award against Charles Edwin Brooks Jr., 32, follows his August 2023 guilty plea to felony injury to a child and a 40-year prison sentence tied to a 2021 assault that left a 2-year-old with irreversible, life-altering injuries. Madison Ball, on behalf of minor child B.S. v. Charles Edwin Brooks Jr., No. DC-24-09952 (134th Dist. Ct., filed July 3, 2024).
Plaintiffs argued that the scale, duration, and severity of Brooks’ conduct warranted punitive damages beyond statutory caps, characterizing the case as one involving egregious, intentional harm to a vulnerable victim. The jury adopted that view, returning a verdict reflecting both the magnitude of the child’s injuries and its assessment of Brooks’ conduct.
“We claim to value children in our society. This Texas jury stepped up and showed that,” said lead counsel Anthony G. Buzbee of The Buzbee Law Firm in Houston. “Don’t mess with Texas children. I hope that through this verdict, this precious child gets all the care he will need and hopefully makes his life as good as it can be made under the circumstances.”
The case arises from April 22, 2021, when Brooks, then married to the child’s mother, Madison Ball, took the couple’s son from the family’s Texarkana home to his Dallas residence under what court filings describe as the false pretense of visiting a hospitalized grandmother, a roughly three-hour trip. Ball had entrusted Brooks with care of her then-2-year-old son while she worked in Texarkana.
According to court filings, Brooks transported the child to his Dallas home under that pretense. Hours later, he called Ball to report the child was unresponsive, offering shifting explanations that included a fall from a kitchen table, a fall down stairs, and a car accident. During a FaceTime call, Ball saw her son unclothed and barely breathing as Brooks insisted the child would “sleep it off” and said he had “thrown the kid into an ice bath.”
When Ball said she would call an ambulance, Brooks threatened that he would “snap her neck and fucking kill” her, according to the lawsuit. Ball contacted 911 despite the threats.
First responders found the child severely beaten, including adult bite marks on both legs. Physicians at Medical City Dallas Hospital documented a severe brain bleed and swelling, extensive bruising and injuries affecting the medulla, cortex, and brain stem, along with lesions throughout the brain. The child was placed in a medically induced coma, fitted with a brain drain, and put on a ventilator.
Medical records cited in the case reflect diagnoses including traumatic brain injury, chronic respiratory failure, seizure disorder, urethral trauma, and traumatic hemorrhage of the bilateral retina. The extent of neurological damage left the child dependent on continuous medical support and long-term rehabilitative care.
More than four years later, B.S. remains confined to a wheelchair and requires around-the-clock care. He uses a tracheostomy tube and a breathing machine and relies on daily medications. He undergoes weekly physical and speech therapy and continues to experience epileptic seizures, according to the record.
Brooks was arrested on May 3, 2021, 11 days after the incident. After posting $250,000 bond, he cut his ankle monitor and fled before authorities located him at a South Texas sports bar and returned him to custody.
The court granted summary judgment Jan. 6 as to liability on claims of civil assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, leaving damages as the sole issue for trial. That posture limited the jury’s role to determining compensatory and punitive damages, given the undisputed liability findings.
Thursday’s verdict resolves that issue, awarding damages to the child and his parents, Ball and Stephen Sampson, reflecting both the child’s extensive medical needs and the parents’ derivative claims.
The size of the punitive damages award, in particular, is likely to be closely examined by courts and litigants assessing its alignment with constitutional limits and state law constraints, as well as the evidentiary record supporting the jury’s findings. The verdict also underscores the potential for significant civil exposure even where a defendant is already serving a lengthy criminal sentence arising from the same conduct.
Buzbee was joined at the counsel table by Colby Holler, David Fortney, and Hall Sasnett. Brooks was represented by Daniel Karp and Fee, Smith & Sharp LLP.
