Federal Jury Awards $13 Million Against Houston Over Fatal 2021 Police Crash Killing Charles Payne Sr.
After trial: On appeal: the court denied the city's new-trial motion in January 2026 and the city appealed to the Fifth Circuit, arguing the damages were excessive. No appellate ruling has been found.
Won by Ben Crump Law.
Charles Payne Sr., 75, died after an HPD patrol car driven by Officer Christopher Cabrera struck his vehicle on North Shepherd Drive in Houston on December 26, 2021. A federal jury found in November 2025 that the City of Houston was deliberately indifferent in adopting an inadequate policy that let officers drive recklessly. It awarded $13 million to his family. The city's new-trial motion was denied and its appeal to the Fifth Circuit is pending.
What happened
On December 26, 2021, Charles Payne Sr., 75, was driving south on North Shepherd Drive in Houston and began a left turn across the northbound lanes. A Houston Police Department patrol car driven by Officer Christopher Cabrera struck the side of his vehicle. Mr. Payne died from the injuries he suffered in the crash. Surveillance video of the collision was later shown publicly.
His widow, Harriet Payne, and his family sued in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in December 2023 under the federal civil rights statute. Officer Cabrera was originally a defendant but was granted qualified immunity, which left the City of Houston as the defendant. The family's case against the city did not turn on one officer's choices alone. It targeted the policy the city had adopted for how its officers drive.
The family's lawyers argued that Cabrera was traveling faster than 70 mph in a 35 mph zone and that the crash would likely not have happened had he been driving the speed limit. They contended that Houston's policy let officers drive recklessly and that the city knew the risk. Ben Crump and Paul Grinke tried the case for the family. The federal docket lists them, along with Aaron Dekle and Brooke Cluse, as counsel from Ben Crump Law, with Carl Evans Jr. of McCathern PLLC also among plaintiffs' counsel. Judge David Hittner presided.
The trial ran about two weeks. The jury returned its verdict on Monday, November 24, 2025. It found that the city was deliberately indifferent in adopting an inadequate policy, and that the policy was the moving force behind Mr. Payne's death and the violation of his constitutional rights. It awarded $13 million to the family: $6 million to his widow and $1 million to each of his seven children. The jury foreman, Sean Churchill, spoke with local reporters afterward. Harriet Payne told ABC13 she knew her husband was looking down on them, and that the family had fought and had not given up.
Crump and Grinke said in a joint statement that the verdict recognized the truth of what happened to Mr. Payne. They said it could not erase the family's loss, and they hoped it would help strengthen policies so that officers operate their vehicles in a way that keeps the community safe.
The city moved for a new trial in December 2025. It argued that the court made erroneous evidentiary rulings and an erroneous jury charge, that the city was unfairly surprised by the plaintiffs' theories, that the verdict went against the weight of the evidence, and that the damages were excessive, singling out the $6 million award to Harriet Payne and the $1 million awards to each child. The court denied the motion on January 23, 2026. On January 27, 2026, the city filed notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, asking it to overturn the judgment. City Attorney Arturo Michel said local governments commonly appeal verdicts of this kind because of the size of the award and the complexity of constitutional damages claims. The appeal is pending as No. 25-20492.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Houston Public Media, 'City of Houston requests new trial after jury awards $13M to family of man killed in crash with police officer', Dec. 23, 2025·Archived copy
- 2.Houston Public Media, 'City of Houston appeals $13 million jury award to family of man killed in HPD crash', Jan. 28, 2026·Archived copy
- 3.ABC13 Houston, 'Family awarded millions in civil trial involving HPD officer, City of Houston over deadly 2021 crash', Nov. 25, 2025·Archived copy
- 4.FOX 26 Houston, 'Family wins $13M verdict after Houston police vehicle crash kills 75-year-old man', Nov. 2025·Archived copy
- 5.Payne v. City of Houston, Texas, No. 4:23-cv-04686 (S.D. Tex.), CourtListener docket
- 6.City of Houston, Rule 59 Motion for New Trial, Payne v. City of Houston, No. 4:23-cv-04686 (S.D. Tex.), Dec. 19, 2025·Archived copy
- 7.Payne v. City of Houston, Texas, No. 25-20492 (5th Cir.), CourtListener docket
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