$49M: Jury finds trucking company, driver ‘grossly negligent’ in deadly Ector Co crash

ECTOR COUNTY, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- An Ector County jury has awarded $49 million to the family of a Midland man killed in a 2025 crash involving an 18-wheeler after finding both the trucking company and its driver grossly negligent.

The verdict stems from the Jan. 27, 2025, crash that killed Steffan Robert Mick, 29, a husband and father of two young children, according to attorneys representing his family.

 

Jurors found that Biorkys Sanchez Fernandez, driving a tractor-trailer owned by OPG Logistics, LLC, failed to yield the right of way and made an unsafe left turn on FM 307 near Midland, causing the collision that killed Mick.

The three-day trial concluded Wednesday in the 244th Judicial District Court in Ector County.

The jury awarded $40.5 million in compensatory damages and an additional $8.5 million in punitive damages after determining the defendants acted with “conscious indifference” to public safety, according to court findings described by attorneys for the family.

Evidence presented during trial showed Mick was driving eastbound on FM 307 at about 6:36 p.m. when Sanchez, traveling westbound in a 2016 Peterbilt tractor-trailer pulling an unloaded belly dump trailer, attempted to turn left across his lane near the Interstate 20 North Service Road intersection.

Mick, who was driving a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban, was traveling within the posted speed limit, wearing a seatbelt and had his headlights on, attorneys said. He died at the scene.

According to trial testimony, Sanchez had been driving for more than 12 hours and on duty for more than 15 hours, allegedly exceeding federal hours-of-service limits for commercial drivers.

Attorneys for the family also alleged that OPG Logistics failed to maintain basic safety policies and driver training programs, including written safety manuals, formal driver instruction and periodic safety reviews.

The jury assigned 65% responsibility to OPG Logistics and 35% to Sanchez.