Bexar County Jury Awards $210 Million in Wrongful Death of Andreen McDonald
After trial: Andre McDonald is serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter plus 5 years for evidence tampering in the underlying criminal case, and his criminal appeal was denied in August 2024. The civil verdict is against an incarcerated individual defendant, and no confirmed outcome of a civil appeal has been reported.
Won by Davis Law Firm.
A Bexar County civil jury awarded $210 million to the family of Andreen McDonald, killed by her husband in 2019, in what is reported to be the largest personal injury verdict in county history.
What happened
In 2019, Andreen Nicole McDonald was killed by her husband, Andre Sean McDonald, an Air Force Reserve major, at the family's San Antonio home. The death occurred in the presence of the couple's young child, who has special needs. Andre McDonald later admitted to kicking his wife to death and then disposing of her remains in a field, burning them and covering them with animal bones.
Andre McDonald was charged with murder, but a criminal jury declined to convict him on that count. He was instead found guilty of manslaughter in February 2023 and received a 20-year prison sentence, plus five additional years for tampering with evidence. Parole eligibility begins in 2030.
Hyacinth Ferron, Andreen's mother, filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Andre McDonald on behalf of herself and her granddaughter. Davis Law Firm attorneys Desiree Marrufo, Ralph Lopez, and Ron Salazar represented the plaintiffs at trial. The civil case, Ferron v. McDonald, proceeded in the 399th Bexar County District Court.
At trial, the Davis Law Firm team presented evidence that Andre McDonald not only caused Andreen's death but was unjustly enriched by it, taking control of the couple's real estate, businesses, vehicles, and bank accounts after her killing. The jury found in favor of the plaintiffs and, on March 8, 2024, returned a verdict of $110 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages, totaling $210 million.
The award is reported to be the largest personal injury verdict in Bexar County history. Andre McDonald's attorneys announced plans to appeal both the criminal and civil verdicts.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
Related wrongful death verdicts
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