Former Air Force Reserve Maj. Andre McDonald, who was recently convicted of manslaughter for the 2019 killing of his wife, Andreen McDonald, faces a new legal battle as her family files a wrongful death lawsuit demanding over $1 million in punitive damages, as reported by Express News. While already serving a 20-year sentence for the manslaughter charge, McDonald is being sued by Andreen's mother, Hyacinth Ferron, who alleges severe "mental anguish" due to her daughter's grisly murder.
Maj. McDonald's disturbing testimony during last year's trial described how a fight with his wife escalated, leading to her death, Ferron is now seeking to impose a constructive trust over McDonald's assets, which would potentially shift control of his legal property to her, stating that "His desecration of her body, hiding her body, burning her body, fraudulently concealing his acts, and failing to reveal his guilt to law enforcement and Andreen Nicole McDonald's family ... was malicious, willful (and) unconscionable," as detailed by the lawsuit obtained by Express News.
The case that caught national attention started when Andreen was reported missing, eventually leading to her remains being discovered on a ranch, McDonald initially faced a murder charge but received a lesser sentence for manslaughter following a contentious trial, during which jurors deliberated for over 12 hours eventually deciding on the lesser charge because prosecutors couldn't sufficiently prove that McDonald intended to kill his wife, this according to a report by Express News.
After the conviction, the trial now turns to the civil courtroom, where the deceased's family continues to seek justice and closure through financial reparations the punitive damages sought in the lawsuit appear to stem from the horrifying details shared during McDonald's testimony, as he admitted to both hiding and burning his wife's body after initially concealing his guilty actions from law enforcement and Andreen's family, as Express News reports.
The civil trial is expected to shed additional light on the heinous events that transpired in 2019 with potential financial consequences for McDonald, who not only faces 20-year imprisonment but may also lose claim to his assets if the court rules in favor of Andreen's mother, revealing once again the depths of this tragedy and the enduring pain it has inflicted upon those left in its wake, as expressed in the harrowing account outlined in the lawsuit and subsequent criminal proceedings covered by Express News.