DALLAS, TX — A Dallas County jury on Wednesday awarded $1 billion to a Texarkana mother and the parents of a child who was brutally beaten as a 2-year-old by his stepfather in 2021, in what the family’s attorneys called the largest child abuse verdict in United States history.
The jury in the 134th District Court found that Charles Edwin Brooks Jr., 32, owed $291 million in compensatory damages to the child, Blake Sampson, along with $810 million in punitive damages split among the child and his parents, Madison Ball and Stephen Sampson.
Brooks, who was married to Ball at the time of the attack, pleaded guilty in August 2023 to first-degree felony injury to a child and is serving a 40-year prison sentence.
According to court filings, Ball entrusted Brooks with babysitting her then-2-year-old son on April 22, 2021, while she was at work in Texarkana. Brooks took the child three hours away to his Dallas home under the false pretense of visiting his grandmother in the hospital.
That night, Brooks called Ball to tell her the child was “non-responsive,” claiming the boy had fallen off a kitchen table. When Ball asked to FaceTime so she could see her son, she found him lying unclothed and barely breathing.
Brooks told Ball the child would “sleep it off” and said he had already thrown the boy into an ice bath. When Ball said she was calling an ambulance, Brooks threatened to “snap her neck” and kill her if she called for help, according to the lawsuit.
Ball called 911 despite the threats.
Paramedics found the child with a severe brain bleed, brain swelling, bruising over his entire body and adult bite marks on his legs. He was rushed to Medical City Dallas Hospital, where he was placed in a medically induced coma on a ventilator with a drain in his brain.
The child suffered a traumatic brain injury with damage to his medulla, cortex and brain stem, along with chronic respiratory failure, a seizure disorder and hemorrhaging in both retinas. He now requires 24-hour medical care, a tracheostomy tube and a breathing machine. He is confined to a wheelchair and cannot walk.
Brooks gave conflicting accounts of what happened, telling Ball Blake fell off a table, telling authorities the boy fell down stairs and telling others the child had been in a car accident.
After his arrest, Brooks was released on $250,000 bond. In January 2022, he cut his ankle monitor and fled. He was found at a sports bar in South Texas and taken back into custody.
The jury’s compensatory award for the child included $50 million for future mental anguish, $50 million for future loss of enjoyment of life, $65 million in future medical expenses, $30 million for future physical pain and suffering, and $20 million each for past disfigurement and past physical impairment, among other categories. The jury also awarded a combined $3.6 million in compensatory damages to Ball and Sampson.
In the punitive phase, jurors unanimously awarded $800 million in exemplary damages on behalf of the child and $5 million each on behalf of Ball and Sampson.
Ten of the 12 jurors agreed on every answer in the compensatory phase of the verdict.
“We claim to value children in our society. This Texas jury stepped up and showed that,” lead attorney Tony Buzbee said. “Don’t mess with Texas children. I hope that through this verdict this precious child gets all the care he will need and hopefully make his life as good as it can be made under the circumstances.”
“This verdict reflects the strength of our client’s case and the unwavering commitment to pursuing justice,” Darren Anderson who represented the father told TXKtoday.
Buzbee, along with attorneys Colby Holler, David Fortney and Hall Sasnett of the Houston-based Buzbee Law Firm, represented Ball and the family. Anderson Law Firm in Texarkana represented Stephen Sampson. Brooks was defended by Daniel Karp of Fee Smith and Sharp LLP in Dallas.
Brooks is the great-grandson of Percy Turner, one of the original investors in Humble Oil.