Jury orders Alex Jones to pay parents of Sandy Hook shooting victim an additional $45.2 million in punitive damages
CBSN
A Texas jury has ordered far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay the parents of a victim of the Sandy Hook school shooting $45.2 million in punitive damages. The same jury a day earlier awarded the family $4.1 million in compensatory damages, after Jones had been found liable for defamation by a judge over his claims the shooting was "a hoax."
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse was one of 20 children and six adults killed during the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, sued Jones and his media company, Free Speech Systems, in 2018. The couple originally sought at least $150 million in damages.
The decision comes after a week and a half of sometimes emotional testimony in the trial, as Heslin and Lewis described how their lives were affected by Jones' false claims.
On the eve of the D-Day invasion, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower spent the remaining hours of daylight with the paratroopers who were about to jump behind German lines into occupied France. A single moment captured by an Army photographer became the most enduring image of America's greatest military operation.
This story previously aired on March 6, 2016. Child Advocate: Do you know why you are here today? 911 operator: 911. What is your emergency? 911 operator: Is there anybody else in the house with you? Robin Doan [to 911]: I so hope my mom is not dead. Robin Doan [to 911]: Please can you just send somebody out here? Robin Doan [to 911]: I'm cold. I'm very cold. Robin Doan [to 911]: I heard my mama scream ... Robin Doan [to 911]: I want my mom. I want my mom. Robin Doan [to 911]: It's on Highway 70. It's about 13.3 miles out from the bowling alley. I have a purple shirt on I have purple pants on. Robin Doan [to 911]: All I want right now is my blanket and my pillow. ... I see him. I see him. Robin Doan [advocate interview]: I really don't want to go to sleep anymore. It makes me to where I'm too scared. I really don't want to go to sleep. OK. Robin Doan [advocate interview]: He had shot in my room and missed me. Advocate: Did you hear anybody say anything. Could you hear anybody talking? Robin Doan [advocate interview]: I don't know this for sure but I thought I saw a white eyes ... a white face. Robin Doan [advocate interview]: And when he shot I saw a flash. Robin Doan [advocate interview]: I can't talk about it. It's too heartbreaking. Levi King interrogation: Before I even realized it, I mean, I'd just pointed it at him and fired.