Dallas County jury awards $1.1 billion in child abuse case against stepfather tied to early Humble Oil fortune

A Dallas County jury awarded $1.1 billion to a young child and his family on Wednesday after finding his stepfather responsible for severe abuse that left him with life-altering injuries. 

According to the lawsuit, the defendant, Charles Brooks, Jr., the child's stepfather, assaulted the child, now 7, causing "catastrophic injuries and putting him in a wheelchair." Brooks claimed the child's injuries were an accident. 

Lawsuit: man beat child, threatened mom 

The lawsuit states that in 2021, Madison Ball trusted Brooks, her then-husband, to babysit her son. Ball alleges that Brooks told her he had to visit his grandfather in the hospital in Dallas and took Ball's then-2-year-old son with him.

Brooks, an unemployed trust fund beneficiary, is the grandson of the late Virginia and Dr. Jesse Brooks and is the great-grandson of one of the original investors of Humble Oil (the predecessor to Exxon), Tony Buzbee, who represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement to CBS News Texas.      

The lawsuit alleged that Brooks lied and did not go to a hospital, nor did he visit his grandfather; rather, he beat and abused the child, "almost killing him."

The lawsuit said that Brooks told Ball her son fell off the kitchen table and was "non-responsive." Ball then demanded that Brooks FaceTime her, during which she saw that her son was barely breathing, the lawsuit states.

Brooks told Ball that she should not worry, the lawsuit claimed, and that the child had already been revived in an ice bath and would "sleep it off." 

The lawsuit alleges that Brooks then refused to call an ambulance when asked by Ball and threatened her, saying he would "snap her neck" and "f***ing kill her" if she called the police or an ambulance. Ball did call an ambulance, the lawsuit said.

Child suffered severe brain injury, requiring lifelong care, lawsuit says

At the hospital, the child was found to have a severe brain bleed, a traumatic brain injury, adult bite marks on his legs and multiple forms of organ and neurological damage. He spent months in the ICU in a medically induced coma and continued to face ongoing complications, the lawsuit said. 

It also said the boy is bedridden, relies on a breathing machine, lives with permanent, severe brain damage and will require lifelong, 24-hour medical care. Ball said her son had been a healthy, energetic toddler before the assault.

According to the lawsuit, Brooks told the authorities that the child had fallen down the stairs and told others that he had been in a car accident.

Brooks was arrested 11 days after the incident. He later went on the run before ultimately being captured. In 2023 he pleaded guilty to injury to a child and was sentenced to 40 years in prison, according to court documents. 

The lawsuit sought compensatory damages to help Ball care for her son and punitive damages because of Brooks' "egregious, reckless, and sickening conduct."

After years of legal proceedings, the verdict included approximately $291 million in compensatory damages and $810 million in punitive damages, according to Buzbee.

"Children are a precious gift from God our Father. Don't mess with Texas children. Period,"  Buzbee said in a statement.