Collecting the award might prove difficult, because the defendant was in jail, and his insurer has filed for bankruptcy protection. (Credit: NikomMaelao Production/Shutterstock)
Houston jurors awarded $56 million to Ezekiel Hernandez, a 22-year-old man who sustained severe brain injuries after a truck hit him when he was riding his bicycle as a child.
But collecting the award might prove difficult, because the defendant was in jail, and his insurer has filed for bankruptcy protection.
The crash left Hernandez with a permanent traumatic brain injury.
"He's a 13-year-old boy living in a 22-year-old man's body," said James Amaro, founder of the Amaro Law Firm in Houston and lead attorney for Hernandez.
The jury delivered the verdict on March 19, after deliberating for two and a half hours following a two-day trial.
In 2016, Aracely Castillo, next friend of Hernandez, who was a minor at the time, filed a personal injury lawsuit against John Loftin III and Maria Antonia Reyes, also known as Maria Antonia Loftin, in the 129th District Court of Harris County in Houston.
George L. Powell, an attorney with the Powell Law Firm in Houston, represented the defendant. Powell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"He was a young boy when this started, and now, he's an adult," Amaro said.
On Feb. 29, 2016, Hernandez, a bicyclist, was stopped at the south side of the intersection of the 800 block of Harris Avenue and Witter Street.
John Loftin was driving his wife's truck west on Harris Avenue. As Hernandez began to cross Harris Avenue, Loftin accelerated from a stop and hit him, according to the complaint. He then fled the scene and "left the minor there to die," according to the lawsuit.
Hernandez had multiple injuries, including broken bones and rib fractures. After being discharged from the hospital, he spent eight weeks at a long-term care hospital for inpatient rehabilitation, including physical therapy, speech therapy and neuropsychology evaluation. He was diagnosed with permanent brain injury, according to court records.
"We're on a mission for bringing closure and justice and peace to all of our clients for life-changing cases, and in this case, unfortunately, the insurance company filed bankruptcy a few years ago, and we made a commitment to our clients to see this through regardless of that issue, and that's what we did," Amaro said.
Amaro plans to submit a claim to the insurance company's bankruptcy estate and see what recourse there is.
The piece was originally published on Law.com and may not be reprinted.
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