FORT WORTH — The family of a seriously injured teenage boy has reached a settlement of more than $2 million with the family of a teenager who was driving a speeding pickup last year when it started a chain reaction of collisions, killing four people and injuring 12.
Maria Lemus and Sergio Molina sued the family of Ethan Couch of Fort Worth on behalf of their son, Sergio Molina, saying that his injuries from the wreck have left him unable to do anything more than blink his eyes.
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In the settlement reached Friday in 96th state District Court, Fred and Tonya Couch’s liability insurer agreed to pay $1.638 million cash to the Sergio E. Molina Special Needs Trust. The Couches’ insurer also agreed to purchase two sets of annuities to provide payments to the trust, beginning in July, of $1,515 monthly and of $1,837 monthly, both for life and guaranteed for 25 years.
Personally, if I were the Molinas, I would have insisted upon holding out for more: bleed the insurer completely dry on the policy and then start in on taking a big chunk of the parents' estate. I would also have pushed for mandating that a sizable portion of Ethan Couch's paychecks from now until eternity go to maintaining the trust.
One family is holding out for a jury trial. I suspect that they're probably wise to do so.
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