BEAUMONT, Texas — A Beaumont lawyer has reached confidential settlements with several alcohol providers after separate wrecks in 2020 claimed the lives of three people, including a Beaumont Police Officer.
Lawyer Zona Jones represents the families of Jillian Blanchard, Officer Sheena-Yarbrough Powell, and Officer Gabriel Fells. Officer Fells is a victim who was seriously injured but survived.
Jillian Blanchard died after her vehicle was hit head-on along FM 1442 in Bridge City on June 13, 2020. Jerrod Lee Watkins plead guilty to two counts of intoxication manslaughter in connection with her death and was sentenced to 40 years in August 2022 .
The second intoxication manslaughter charge was in connection with the death of Robert Jackson. Officials said Jackson was riding a bicycle when Watkins hit and killed him.
Jackson's family was not apart of these settlements, nor are they represented by Jones.
Officer Sheena Yarbrough-Powell died on August 9, 2020 in a head-on wrong-way crash along Cardinal Drive in Beaumont. The crash also seriously injured Officer Gabriel Fells.
Luis Torres initially plead guilty to intoxication manslaughter in connection with her death but later withdrew his plea. He was later found guilty of intoxication manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years.
Officer Sheena Yarbrough-Powell was 23 when she died. Torres was 18 when the deadly crash took place, and according to a probable cause affidavit, his blood alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit.
Related: Port Arthur man sentenced to 20 years in connection with 2020 death of Beaumont police officer
Jones reached a confidential settlement with La Cantina Mexican Grill, Avenue Axe, and Dylan's Bar & Grill, who sold alcohol to Watkins before the crash, Jones told 12News.
A petition was filed on behalf of Blanchard's parents on August 18, 2020 against Dylan's Bar & Grill and Jerrod Watkins. That case against Dylan's was settled afterward.
After the case against Dylan's was settled, Jones' amended the petition on September 15, 2021 to include La Cantina Mexican Grill and Avenue Axe. The case against Avenue Axe was resolved during the summer of 2022.
The cases against La Cantina Mexican Grill and Jerrod Watkins were recently settled.
Jones also reached a settlement with Fuel Point gas station, which served Torres alcohol. Jones is working on a settlement with Tequila's Mexican Restaurant in Port Arthur, which is now closed but has a location in Bridge City.
The terms of all the settlements are confidential.
Zona Jones, "practices in the areas of personal injury, commercial and consumer class action litigation at Harrison Davis Steakley Morrison Jones in Beaumont," according to his website. He is board certified in personal injury trial law.
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