Houston Texans safety Jimmie Ward is facing a civil lawsuit from the woman he allegedly assaulted in June, according to reports from multiple outlets, ESPN. Ward, 34, had previously been arrested in June on a felony domestic violence charge stemming from allegations made by the same woman.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Harris County (Texas) District Court by the plaintiff, alleges that she was “violently assaulted multiple times, both sexually and physically” by Ward, whom she also accuses of drug use, emotional abuse, financial manipulation and death threats.” She is reportedly seeking $20 million in damages.
The lawsuit describes a June 12 incident in which Ward allegedly forced his way into the woman’s residence, slapped and choked her, and threatened her with sexual assault, while their 3-year-old child was present. Court documents also reference earlier incidents: Ward is accused of another assault in April, and the woman claims she witnessed Ward snorting a white powder from a bathroom counter before allegedly forcing her onto a mattress and engaging sexually assaulting her in January 2025 The filing further asserts that Ward has violated his bond conditions multiple times since his June arrest, including being taken into custody again for drinking alcohol in violation of the agreement.
Ward’s attorney, Stephen Jackson, said: “Our main focus right now is the grand jury, that is set for first week of September, to try to convince the grand jury that Jimmie should not be indicted. We’re going to take this one step at a time. We’re going to focus on the criminal allegations to try to get those dismissed, and then we’ll focus on the civil suit.”
Ward is currently sidelined with a foot injury and is listed on Houston’s Physically Unable to Perform list. His criminal case is scheduled to go before a grand jury on August 31. Texans general manager, Nick Caserio said the team would “kind of let the legal process take care of itself” when he was asked about the matter on the first day of training camp.
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