Family of Texas ‘Affluenza’ Teen to Pay Victim $2M

The family of a North Texas teenager who killed four people and injured 12 in a drunken-driving wreck has reached a settlement of more than $2 million with the family of a teenage boy left disabled.

Tarrant County court documents show that the liability insurer of Ethan Couch’s parents agreed to pay $1.64 million in cash to a trust established for Sergio E. Molina.

The Couches’ insurer also will buy two annuities to make payments to the trust.

Couch’s case drew national attention after his attorneys argued that his wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility, which one witness termed “affluenza.”

Couch, 17, killed four people last year when his vehicle rammed into a crowd of people trying to help the driver of a disabled vehicle south of Fort Worth. Investigators said he was driving his family company’s pickup truck while drunk and with traces of Valium in his system.

Couch was sentenced to 10 years probation and ordered to go to a rehabilitation facility.

Five other families of the injured or killed have settled with the Couches, pending court approval. One family is seeking a jury trial.