Free Republic

The heir to a Texas oil fortune has been ordered to pay $1.1 billion in a landmark ruling after he violently beat his 2-year-old stepson nearly to death — leaving the child bedridden in a wheelchair and requiring 24-hour care, according to a court. Charles Brooks Jr. will have to pay the hefty fee after a jury ruled in favor of ex-wife Madison Ball, whose son suffered a severe brain injury at the hands of the now 34-year-old felon, Buzbee Law Firm, which represents the parents, said Thursday. Brooks, an unemployed trust-fund baby and the great-grandson of Humble Oil founding...

Law enforcement across Tennessee and Kentucky are looking for a man after his girlfriend was found dead in his Antioch apartment last weekend. On Friday, March 13, officials said Kentucky State Police found 26-year-old Kierra Timmons’ red Dodge Charger abandoned on an Interstate 24 bridge over the Cumberland River with the engine running, the door open, and the hazard flashers on. “La Vergne police came knocking on my door at 9:30, telling me they had found her car abandoned and couldn’t find her, and this was in Kentucky, so I tried to reach her, [but I] couldn’t get her,” Kierra’s...