Asher Vann has been awarded millions of dollars in damages after being falsely accused of a racial bullying scheme as a middle schooler in 2021. The story gained national media attention at the time, reportedly destroying his reputation.
The jury’s verdict legally vindicated Vann, though he claims his reputation may never recover.
Background
Vann’s long-time friend SeMarion Humphrey would reportedly stay with his family from time to time when Humphrey’s mother, Summer Smith, spent weekends away and was unable to care for him.
Such was the case on the weekend of February 13, 2021, when Vann and Humphrey also had a sleepover with three other boys. They went frog hunting with BB guns and shot each other through their thick winter clothing to see if they could feel it. Everyone reportedly participated and nobody was hurt.
The group also decided they would play a prank on whoever fell asleep first. It happened to be Humphrey.
The rest of the boys put together a concoction of apple juice with a small amount of their urine and woke up Humphrey to drink it. He reportedly did not swallow the drink and laughed before returning to sleep. Humphrey would leave the next day in good spirits, expressing that he “had a good time.”
Vann did not know that one of the boys recorded the incident and it spread around their school.
School officials learned of the event and informed Smith, who immediately teamed up with attorney Kim Cole to publicly characterize the event as a racially motivated attack on her son.
They argued that Humphrey was only invited to the party “for the purpose of playing out some sadistic racist fantasy, whereby the boys intentionally pelted [Humphrey] with guns, physically abused him, and forced him to drink urine.”
The boys were accused of many things, including calling Humphrey racial slurs—something that reportedly never happened.
Smith and Cole began pressuring Haggard Middle School in Plano to demand disciplinary action be taken against the boys. The school initially declined, but would eventually discipline the boys after Smith and Cole conjured up pressure—including press conferences, Black Lives Matter-style protests, and even doxxing those involved.
In a separate suit, federal District Judge Amos Mazzant wrote a scathing opinion, slamming Plano ISD for violating the boys’ due process rights in response to “daily protests, death threats, accusations of turning a blind eye to racism, and masses of phone calls and e-mails, many of which personally attacked School and District administrators for not doing enough to discipline the students involved in the incident.”
Smith and Cole would file their own lawsuit against the boys, though it was reportedly “devoid of any allegation of racism or racial motivations,” despite their more public outcries.
In the weeks and months that followed, Humphrey reportedly reached out directly to Vann to apologize for the uproar caused by his mother.
The Lawsuit
In 2023, Vann filed a lawsuit against Smith, her unnamed daughter who had been publicizing the allegations, and Cole, in a Collin County district court. He sought damages in excess of $1 million, alleging an invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
As the suit alleges, “Defendants intentionally and knowingly embarked on a fraudulent campaign to ruin these boys’ lives so they could raise money, and they didn’t care that they caused the boys to be subject to overwhelming and unwarranted public hatred, disdain, and ridicule, and suffer extreme physical and psychological distress – all based on false allegations and a false narrative.”
Van reportedly suffered from “intense feelings of social isolation, fear, depression, anxiety” and medical side effects.
Additionally, Cole had set up a GoFundMe on Smith’s behalf, which had garnered $119,353 by March 2025. It was claimed that the funds were needed for Humphrey to obtain counseling and attend private school.
The lawsuit alleges that Humphrey “never enrolled in private school” and that the funds were never used to provide him with counseling.
“Instead, it’s believed Smith and Cole used the money for their own benefit, with Smith even posting in the weeks and months following lavish trips to Hawaii and Las Vegas. It was all just a scam,” reads the suit.
The Ruling
Judge Benjamin Smith (R) signed a final judgment on January 22, 2026, ordering Smith and Cole to pay Vann roughly $3.2 million in damages plus attorney fees—in accordance with the October 2025 jury verdict.
Vann—now a college freshman—appeared on the Will Cain Show last week to discuss the ruling.
“I don’t think that my reputation’s been restored and, to be honest, I don’t know when it will. I don’t know if it ever will,” said Vann.
Smith has suggested that the decision will be appealed.
Cole also served as defense attorney for Karmelo Anthony after he fatally stabbed Austin Metcalf at a trackmeet in April 2025. The case was also tied to a controversial GoFundMe account that amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars for Anthony’s family.
She was taken off the case within a month of being retained, and was replaced by attorney Mike Howard.
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