'Affluenza' Teen's Family Will Pay Over $2M to the Family of the Boy He Paralyzed

Abby Ohlheiser
'Affluenza' Teen's Family Will Pay Over $2M to the Family of the Boy He Paralyzed

The family of Ethan Couch, the teenager who got 10 years of probation and a stint in rehab after killing four people and injuring 12 more in a drunk-driving car wreck, will pay more than $2 million in a settlement to one of the families of the injured. It's the first approved settlement in the civil fallout from the accident, which gained national attention for Couch's unusual "affluenza" defense. His "affluenza," his attorneys and doctors argued, given him to him by his permissive wealthy parents, imbued the teenager with a sense of irresponsibility that left him unable to understand the consequences of his actions.

The settlement, reached on Friday,  will require  Fred and Tonya Couch’s liability insurer to pay out $1.638 million in cash to the Sergio E. Molina Special Needs Trust. The insurer will also pay two sets of monthly annuities to the trust at $1,515 and $1,837 monthly. As the Fort Worth Star-Telegram notes, Sergio Molina's family sued the Couch family after their son was left unable to do anything other than blink and smile following the accident. Molina's Alexander Lemus brother told the AP that the settlement was disappointing: "We're not happy about it, but we just have to take what we got and strive for better days," he said. 

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According to the AP, the Couch family also settled with all but one of the other families suing them after the accident, but there aren't any details available on the terms of those settlements. One family, that of the injured Lucas McConnell, wants to bring their case to a jury trial. 

This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/05/affluenza-teens-family-will-pay-over-2m-to-the-family-of-the-boy-he-paralyzed/361813/

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