Tarrant jury awards $20 million to woman injured in fall at apartment complex
A Tarrant County jury awarded over $20 million in damages to a North Texas woman injured in a fall at her apartment complex in 2011, according to the verdict documents.
The woman, Sonji Patmon, was walking down the stairs from her apartment to the complex’s parking lot on March 16, 2011, when the steps began to “move and bounce,” according to the lawsuit.
The motion of the steps caused Patmon to fall and suffer injuries, according to the suit filed by her attorneys with the Noteboom law firm in Fort Worth.
The lawsuit alleged that management of the Euless apartment complex, Village on Post Oak Apartments, created the conditions that led to Patmon’s fall by failing to maintain and repair the steps.
Lawyers for the complex argued Patmon was liable for the fall, and that any injuries she alleged in her lawsuit existed at the time of the incident, according to a response the defendants filed in court.
The lawsuit did not describe the extent of Patmon’s injuries. Attorneys in the case did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The judgment, totaling $20,150,000, covers physical and mental pain, impairment, disfigurement and medical expenses, according to the jury’s verdict on April 11 in 236th District Court.
This story was originally published April 15, 2025 at 7:56 PM.
