Jury awards family of Dublin teen killed in farming accident a staggering $32 million in damages.

The family of Jordan Sanchez and their attorneys Katherine Binns and Paul Hornung.

By SARA VANDEN BERGE

It was a staggering amount of money no one could have seen coming.

After hearing two days of testimony in the accident that claimed the life of 18-year-old Jordan Sanchez, a jury of eight women and four men ordered Grass Roots Farming to pay the victim’s family $32 million.

The award did not include punitive damages; the $32 million was awarded for the family’s pain, suffering and emotional distress.

DAY 2 TESTIMONY

The second day in a civil trial involving a 2023 farming accident opened with testimony from Ben Coan, the driver of the loader that ran over and killed 18-year-old Jordan Sanchez as he picked up rocks from a field with six other teenagers.

Coan testified on Wednesday that he is not certified to operate heavy equipment and was never instructed by his employer, Grass Roots Farming, about safety measures.

He told Katherine Binns, one of the attorneys representing the Sanchez family, that he picked up the seven teenagers on the morning of April 7, 2023 and drove them to the field to pick up rocks.

Coan, who remains employed at Grass Roots Farming and was 26-years-old at the time, said he was assigned to drive the loader on the day of the accident and admitted that he never spoke with the group about safety measures.

When Binns asked Coan if he had ever been trained on a variety of safety measures, he repeatedly answered, “I don’t remember” or “I don’t recall.”

On the day of the accident, Coan said he was sitting inside the cab of the loader and could not hear the kids outside as he trailed about eight-feet behind them while they tossed rocks into the bucket.

In court, Binns re-read a portion of Coan’s statement taken during a deposition in which he said he stopped the loader to look down at his phone to check the time.  

“You were never instructed by Grass Roots Farm to do a head count before you started driving again?” Binns asked.

 “If you would have, you would have only counted six.”

That’s because Jordan Sanchez was bent over to pick up a rock when he was struck by the loader.

Coan began to cry on the stand when he admitted that was true.

Coan said he didn’t realize the accident had occurred until he saw the kids screaming and throwing dirt in an attempt to get his attention.

“Would you agree with me that you have to be watching and paying attention to the kids when operating a loader?” Binns asked.

“Your distracted driving caused you to not see where Jordan was, correct?”

“Right,” Coan answered, breaking down in tears.

Grass Roots attorney Shay Isham pointed out that the kids knew to hold up their hands when they wanted the loader to stop, to which Coan agreed.

Coan said he has never had a chance to speak to Jordan’s family following the accident.

“Would you like to?” Isham asked.

“Kinda, yeah,” he said.

Grass Roots owner Alan Vanderhorst was called to the stand by Binns, but his attorney Colin O’Neill blocked his testimony.

He told Judge Jason Cashon that calling Vanderhorst to testify was “a complete blindside.”

In heartbreaking testimony, Jordan Sanchez's mother took the stand wearing a shirt with his photo on it.

She let out guttural sobs as she spoke about the devastating loss of her son.

“He was a very lovely boy,” she said through a translator.

This story was updated to reflect the judgement.

Click here to read the full story from the first day of the trial.