Record $1.1B evil oil heir ordered to pay stepson he disabled in beatings could take years to collect: ‘Long way to go’

The $1.1 billion that a Texas oil heir was ordered to pay for leaving his 2-year-old stepson disabled in vicious beatings is the largest of its kind in US history — but it will still take years to collect even a fraction of the full amount, the boy’s attorney said Monday.

Charles Brooks Jr. — the great-grandson of Humble Oil founding investor Percy Turner — was ordered to pay the eye-popping verdict last week to his 2-year-old former stepson, Blake Sampson, whom he left permanently bedridden, wheelchair-bound and dependent on a breathing machine following a horrific assault on April 22, 2021.

“This is the largest child abuse verdict in the history of the United States,” Tony Buzbee, a lawyer for Sampson and his mom, Madison Ball, told The Post on Monday.

Evcen so, “We have a long way to go,” Buzbee said by email. “We have to move for a judgment based on the verdict. There will be post-trial motions. And then I would expect an appeal.”

“Rarely, if ever, does a plaintiff collect on the full verdict,” Buzbee said. “Just doesn’t happen.”

“I’m proud that the family trusted me to lead the effort for this precious child,” he said.

Katherine Lizardo, a Dallas-based civil attorney who is not connected to the case, said child abuse verdicts in the Lone Star State are normally in the range of $5 to $50 million, with outliers occasionally around $100 million.

“That’s not even remotely close to the $1.1 billion here,” Lizardo said.

“We are talking about a defendant who believed he was in a position of power and influence because he’s the heir of the founders of Humble Oil,” Lizardo said. “The message the jury is sending is even if you’re in a position of power, we will not only hold you accountable, but we will also punish you severely.”

And she said the case can be used as a “benchmark” by Texas lawyers in future child abuse cases, settlements and verdicts.

Lizardo said it might be years before Ball and Sampson see any money because of the lengthy appeal process and they will likely end up settling with Brooks before the appeal is decided because of the need to pay for Sampson’s round-the-clock care.

“Most of the time, these types of verdicts get reduced significantly and they take a long time to recover,” she said.

Lizardo said it would be impossible to guess what they would settle for, but said she could only hope it wouldn’t be reduced by more than half.

“The defendant here has the money,” she said. “The reason it’s a $1.1 billion verdict is because he has the capability to pay out that money even though it will be tied up in the appeals process. The settlement itself — that’s really hard to guess.”

Brooks took a plea deal in a corresponding criminal case and is currently serving 40 years behind bars.

Ball — Brooks’ ex-wife — claims he was babysitting Sampson while she was working when the stepdad unleashed the near-deadly assault on the tot.

Brooks called Ball hours later, claiming the boy was “non-responsive” after having taken a fall of the kitchen table, the suit alleged.

When he finally put Sampson on a video call with Ball, she saw her son was “barely breathing” but Brooks refused to call 911, the suit claimed.

Brooks instead claimed the boy would “sleep it off” and informed the mom he’d plunged him into an ice bath to wake him up, the filing claimed.

Brooks also said he’d “snap” Ball’s neck if she called for help.

She ignored the threats, calling the authorities and when medics arrived on scene they found the boy with severe injuries — including bite marks on his legs.

He suffered “a traumatic brain injury, chronic respiratory failure, seizure disorder, urethral trauma, and traumatic hemorrhage of his eye.”

Now, Sampson lives with a tracheostomy tube and he can’t breathe without a machine or walk.

Brooks’ civil lawyer didn’t immediately return a request for comment Monday.