A San Patricio County jury awarded $198 million in damages to a woman who was sexually assaulted, shot and left for dead more than a decade ago.
Mary Kristene Chapa and her girlfriend, Mollie Olgin, were sexually assaulted and shot in the back of their heads in Portland, Texas, in June 2012. Olgin died, but Chapa survived the incident.
In 2016, the shooter, David Strickland, was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Chapa filed the civil lawsuit in April 2017 against Strickland, his father and the family’s pharmacy, seeking damages for her life-altering injuries. Chapa has tunnel vision, walks with a limp and limited use of the left side of her body.
The jury heard three days of testimony and deliberated for two hours before returning its verdict Wednesday finding Strickland liable for the assault and shooting of Chapa. The jury’s award included $100 million in exemplary damages. Judge Janna K. Whatley presided over the case.
“I’ve never seen anybody with more determination than her,” Tony Buzbee, who represented Chapa, told The Texas Lawbook. “She’s definitely somebody that’s just an example to be held up to people with brain injuries and who’ve been through some of the worst heinous things that’s ever happened to people, and she just kept on plugging.”
Buzbee had asked the jury to award $1 billion, but said he feels that $198 is still a “pretty big statement.”
“I wanted more attention, not brought to this, this scumbag, but brought to her and her plight,” Buzbee said.
Colby Holler of Hall Sasnett of Buzbee Law Firm also represented Chapa.
Terry Womac of Womac ADR and Michael G. Terry of Hartline Barger represented the defendants. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case is Mary Kristene Chapa v. David M. Strickland et al. S-17-5294CV-C.