Left to right: Asher Vann in 2026 interview and Summer Smith in 2026 interview (WFAA).
A Texas mother and her lawyer have been ordered to pay millions of dollars to one of several middle school students she accused of bullying her son, who is Black, claiming the boys' actions were racially motivated.
Collin County District Judge Benjamin Smith last month upheld a jury verdict ordering Summer Smith and attorney Kim Cole to pay $3.2 million in damages to now-19-year-old Asher Vann, who accused the duo of intentional infliction of emotional distress and publicizing his private information.
Smith and Cole alleged that Vann, who is white, invited Smith's son to a February 2021 sleepover party for his birthday with a preconceived plan to humiliate the boy by shooting him with a BB gun, calling him racial slurs, and forcing him to "drink their urine," according to a copy of the filed complaint.
Law&Crime is not naming Smith's son because he was a minor when the incident took place and is not a named party to the lawsuit.
A GoFundMe set up by Cole for Smith's benefit soon went viral, claiming Smith's son had already "endured horrific bullying" that caused him to quit the middle school football team. Soon after, the boy was "ecstatic" when Vann, who was on the football team, invited Smith's son to a sleepover birthday party with several other football players. However, Smith's mom claimed her son was targeted by the other boys for being Black.
"But little did [Smith's son] know what had been planned for him," the fundraising page said. "While at the sleepover several white students shot [Smith's son] with BB guns. When he was asleep they slapped him, all while calling him racial slurs. And worse yet, they forced [Smith's son] to drink their urine. [Smith's son] had been subjected to the unthinkable. He is in need of therapy and is planning to change to a private school."
The GoFundMe raised about $119,000 and created national headlines that resulted in Vann and the other juveniles at the party being investigated by the school and local law enforcement. Though the investigations found no wrongdoing by the boys, the damage had already been done, according to Vann's civil lawsuit.
Jurors sided with Vann, who asserted that there were no racial slurs used throughout the evening, all of the boys shot each other with the BB guns, and the urine prank had nothing to do with Smith's son being Black.
"Ultimately, [Smith's son] went to sleep first. The group, as they had planned for whoever fell asleep first, decided to play a childish and immature prank on their friend," Vann's lawsuit stated. "In short, the boys filled a cup with apple juice, and (to the extent they could), one or more boys dribbled a bit of urine into the juice. They then woke up their cohort, offered him the icky brew, which he appeared to take a brief sip (swallowing none)."
It was only several weeks later, when Smith learned that one of the boys had filmed the incident with their cellphone, that she "decided to capitalize on the situation to the maximum extent possible."
Smith and Cole then "embarked on a campaign, all of a sudden claiming the events were racially motivated and that the boys had invited [Smith's son] to the party for the purpose of playing out some sadistic racist fantasy," Vann's suit stated.
Vann has spoken openly to several news outlets about the ordeal, which he maintained was the result of the innocent, albeit immature, actions of a group of eighth graders.
"This wasn't me doing a racist act," he told Dallas-area ABC affiliate WFAA. "This isn't me hating someone because of their skin color. This was me at an immature stage of my life at a sleepover for my birthday, doing immature dumb things."
Smith's claims made national headlines and derailed Vann's life for several years, with things only recently beginning to turn around, according to the complaint.
"Things are getting better," he told WFAA. "But I don't feel like I am who I should've been at this age because of that."
Asked about the verdict, Vann told The Dallas Morning News that it was like a "big weight had finally been lifted off my chest," adding, "I felt so overwhelmed. It was just pure happiness."
Smith and Cole told the Morning News that they plan to appeal the jury verdict.
"What happened to my son happened," she told the newspaper. "It was a crime. It was an assault."
Follow Law&Crime:
Comments