$812 Million Texas Wrongful Death Verdict for Family of Worker Killed in Pecos Gas Plant Explosion

A Starr County, Texas jury has returned an $812 million wrongful death verdict in favor of the wife and two daughters of Reinaldo Garcia Pena, a worker killed in a 2023 explosion at the Pecos Liquids Handling Facility. The verdict against facility owner Upton Assets, LLC breaks down as $203 million in compensatory damages and $609 million in punitive damages. The jury assigned 100 percent of the fault to Upton Assets, zero percent to the deceased worker, and unanimously found the company's conduct rose to the level of gross negligence. The award is part of a combined $1.6 billion total verdict covering the families of two workers killed in the same blast.

Case at a Glance

• Verdict: $812,000,000 ($203M compensatory + $609M punitive)
• Case Type: Wrongful Death / Workplace Explosion
• Court: 381st Judicial District Court, Starr County, Texas
• Verdict Date: April 2026
• Plaintiff: The widow and two daughters of Reinaldo Garcia Pena
• Defendant: Upton Assets, LLC
• Plaintiff Attorneys: Rob Ammons and Herbie Montalvo (The Ammons Law Firm); Omar Escobar Jr. (Escobar Law Firm); Jesus A. Zambrano and Edgar E. Garcia (Zambrano Law Firm)

What Happened at the Pecos Liquids Handling Facility?

On October 7, 2023, an explosion ripped through the Pecos Liquids Handling Facility in Pecos, Texas, killing two workers from the Rio Grande Valley: Reinaldo Garcia Pena and Angel Alaffa. According to the Ammons Law Firm, the men had traveled more than 500 miles for the job and had been on site for weeks of unpaid labor before the blast.

The plaintiffs alleged that Upton Assets sent the workers to weld on a tank still containing flammable hydrocarbons, armed only with a gas monitor that could not detect the vapors that ultimately ignited.

Why Did the Jury Award $609 Million in Punitive Damages?

Punitive damages of that scale signal a finding that the conduct was not merely careless but reckless. The trial centered on the company's failure to follow Process Safety Management (PSM) protocols, a federally required safety framework for facilities handling hazardous chemicals.

According to court evidence summarized by plaintiff counsel, Upton Assets:

• Had no documented safety procedures and issued no hot work permits
• Employed a facility manager without PSM training or qualifications
• Provided the workers with no safety manual, orientation, or training
• Allowed liquid hydrocarbons to flood work areas without atmospheric testing
• Left tank cleaning incomplete while giving workers false safety assurances

By the end of cross-examination, Upton Assets' own retained expert was forced to concede that what occurred at the facility was not an accident but, in his words, a "systemic failure of safety."

How Were the Compensatory Damages Distributed?

The jury awarded the $203 million in compensatory damages to the Garcia family as follows:

• $101.5 million to Reinaldo Garcia Pena's widow
• $50.75 million to one daughter
• $50.75 million to the other daughter

The $609 million in punitive damages was apportioned across the same beneficiaries. A separate award of similar scale was returned for the family of Angel Alaffa, bringing the combined total verdict in the case to roughly $1.6 billion.

What This Verdict Signals for Texas Workplace Death Cases

The result is one of the largest workplace wrongful death verdicts in U.S. history and a significant data point for plaintiff attorneys handling Texas industrial accident cases. Starr County jurors heard a two-week trial focused on documentary gaps, training failures, and cross-examination of corporate witnesses, a pattern that has produced outsized awards in oilfield and chemical plant cases across the state.

Lead counsel Jesus (Jesse) A. Zambrano framed the verdict in worker dignity terms, saying companies "must treat workers with dignity and respect."

Conclusion

Verdicts like this one show what Texas juries are willing to award when plaintiff counsel can document a complete breakdown of safety culture and walk a defense expert into the admission. Major Verdict tracks significant plaintiff verdicts and settlements across all 50 states. Browse the latest results or find a plaintiff attorney with a proven trial record in Texas.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is gross negligence under Texas law?

Gross negligence in Texas requires evidence that the defendant's conduct involved an extreme degree of risk and that the defendant had actual, subjective awareness of that risk but proceeded with conscious indifference. A finding of gross negligence is what unlocks punitive damages in Texas wrongful death cases.

Q: Are punitive damages capped in Texas wrongful death cases?

Texas generally caps punitive damages at the greater of $200,000 or two times economic damages plus an amount equal to non-economic damages (capped at $750,000). However, the cap does not apply in cases involving certain felony-level conduct. Whether any reduction applies in this matter would be addressed post-verdict.

Q: What is Process Safety Management (PSM)?

Process Safety Management is an OSHA-mandated framework (29 CFR 1910.119) that requires facilities handling highly hazardous chemicals to maintain written procedures, employee training, hot work permits, mechanical integrity programs, and incident investigations. Plaintiffs argued Upton Assets had implemented none of these required elements at the Pecos facility.