A Dallas County jury delivered a landmark $1.1 billion verdict Wednesday against a trust fund heir descended from one of the founders of Humble Oil — the predecessor to ExxonMobil — after finding him responsible for a savage 2021 attack on his then 2-year-old stepson that left the child permanently brain-damaged and wheelchair-bound.
The verdict, rendered in Dallas County's 134th District Court, included approximately $291 million in compensatory damages and $810 million in punitive damages, according to plaintiffs' attorney Tony Buzbee of The Buzbee Law Firm.
The defendant, Charles Brooks Jr., is the great-grandson of one of the original investors of Humble Oil and an unemployed trust fund beneficiary. He is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2023 to injury to a child.
According to the lawsuit, in 2021 Madison Ball trusted Brooks, her then-husband, to babysit her son. Brooks told Ball he needed to visit his grandfather in the hospital in Dallas and took the toddler with him. The lawsuit states Brooks lied — he never went to any hospital. Instead, he beat and abused the child, "almost killing him."
After a grueling jury trial, a Dallas County jury just returned a verdict of $1.1 Billion for my minor client and his parents. The verdict includes $810 million in punitive damages. Defense counsel was Fee Smith of Dallas. Don’t mess with Texas children.
— Tony Buzbee (@TonyBuzbee2) March 25, 2026
When Ball demanded Brooks FaceTime her, she saw her son was barely breathing. Brooks allegedly told her the child had been revived in an ice bath and would "sleep it off." He then refused to call an ambulance and threatened Ball when she tried to do so. Ball called 911 anyway.
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. Now 7 years old, he is bedridden, depends on a breathing machine, has permanent and severe brain damage and will require round-the-clock medical care for the rest of his life. Ball said her son had been a healthy, energetic toddler before the assault.
Brooks, originally from Atlanta, Texas, was arrested 11 days after the attack. He later fled before being captured. He pleaded guilty in 2023 and was sentenced to 40 years in the Texas Department of Corrections.
Buzbee said in a statement: "Children are a precious gift from God our Father. Don't mess with Texas children. Period."
Large civil verdicts of this magnitude are frequently subject to post-trial motions and appeals that can reduce the final payout. KRLD will update this story as proceedings continue.
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The verdict included approximately $291 million in compensatory damages and $810 million in punitive damages
