Texas oil tycoon beats 2-year-old stepson, leaving him in a wheelchair for life, ordered to pay $1.1 billion in damages

A Texas oil heir has been ordered to pay a historic $1.1 billion in damages to a toddler he brutally beat, leaving him with serious injuries that required 24-hour care.Charles Brooks Jr., 34, will pay $291 million in compensatory damages and $810 million in punitive damages after a civil jury ruled in favor of his ex-wife, Madison Ball, and her son, Stephen Sampson. The child is seven years old this year. He received $800 million in prize money, while his parents will each receive $5 million. It was the largest conviction for an attack on a child in U.S. history.Brooks, the great-grandson of Humble Oil founding investor Percy Turner, is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence for the attack, which left his stepson bedridden and dependent on a tracheostomy tube, a wheelchair and a ventilator. The boy is unable to walk and will require full-time care for the rest of his life.The attack occurred on April 22, 2021, while the child’s mother was at work. Brooks, who was supposed to be caring for the two-year-old, called his wife and claimed the child fell off the kitchen table and was “unresponsive” while visiting Brooks’ grandmother in Dallas.Mother Ball asked to see her son via video call and found her child “barely breathing” and Brooks ignored her pleas to call 911. Brooks failed to take the seriousness of the injury seriously, insisting the child would “get some sleep” and be placed in an ice bath. He also threatened Ball, saying he would “break her neck” and “kill her” if she contacted emergency services.Ball ignored the threat and called 911. First responders found the child severely beaten, unresponsive and with adult bite marks on his legs. He suffered from traumatic brain injury, chronic respiratory failure, epilepsy, urethral trauma and bilateral traumatic retinal hemorrhages, according to court records. “(The child’s) life is never the same and because of Brooks’ horrific, violent, horrific behavior, he will never grow into the strong, healthy, happy boy he was meant to be,” the court petition reads.Tony Buzbee, an attorney representing Ball and her son, said: “We claim to value children in our society. The Texas jury stood up and showed that. Don’t mess with the children of Texas. I hope that with this verdict, this precious child gets all the care he needs and that his life is as good as possible given the circumstances.”Brooks has a record of criminal convictions, including burglary, aggravated robbery, firearms charges and drug possession. After the attack, he tried to escape by cutting off his ankle monitor and was later found in a South Texas bar. He is currently being held in the San Saba County Jail and is eligible for parole in 2042, with an expected release date of January 30, 2062.The ruling marks one of the largest civil awards ever issued in a U.S. child abuse case.