SAN ANTONIO – A Bexar County jury has awarded $81 million in damages to the family of a woman who was killed by a deputy U.S. Marshal who was driving drunk.
The family’s attorneys called it a “landmark” verdict, saying it was the largest mental anguish award ever.
Jonathan Jones was convicted of manslaughter last year and sentenced to 11.5 years in prison for the crash that killed Taylor McCowan, 23.
The crash happened on Jan. 31, 2020, on Loop 1604 and Babcock Road, on the city’s Northwest Side. San Antonio police said Jones was driving the wrong way in a pickup truck when he crashed head-on into McCowan’s sedan.
McCowan died from her injuries nearly two weeks later, according to a previous KSAT report.
Jones was relieved of his operational duties and placed on administrative leave following the crash, a spokesman for the US Marshals Service said.
The civil lawsuit stated that Jones was intoxicated by more than twice the state’s legal limit.
The lawsuit named Jones and The Block SA, the bar where Jones was served alcohol, on the night of the crash.
The Block settled confidentially in 2022, attorneys said.
Plfs. McCowan Second Amended Petition by Julie Moreno on Scribd
Watch KSAT’s previous reports on the case: