Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ordered to take paternity test in legal battle with 26-year-old woman

A judge has ordered Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to take a paternity test as part of a legal dispute with a 26-year-old woman who claims the billionaire is her biological father

Jake Bleiberg
Monday 26 December 2022 06:50 EST
Cowboys Jerry Jones Lawsuit Football
Cowboys Jerry Jones Lawsuit Football (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A judge has ordered Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to take a paternity test as part of a legal dispute with a 26-year-old woman who claims the billionaire is her biological father.

A Texas judge issued the order for genetic testing Thursday in a paternity case brought by Alexandra Davis, who previously alleged in a separate lawsuit she was conceived from a relationship Jones had with her mother in the mid-1990s.

Attorneys for Jones did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday, but said in court filings that they intend to appeal the decision. One of Davis' lawyers, Andrew Bergman, confirmed the decision, but did not immediately offer any other comment.

In March, Davis sued Jones in Dallas County, asking a judge to void a legal agreement she said her mother, Cynthia Davis, reached with Jones two years after she was born.

The 1998 settlement allegedly said that Jones would support them financially as long as they didn’t publicly say he was Alexandra's father — something the married owner of the Cowboys denied.

Davis dropped that case in April, saying that she would instead seek to prove that Jones is her father. She filed the paternity case that month.

On Thursday, Associate Judge T. Jones Abendroth wrote that “after careful consideration” she would grant Davis' motion to have Jones undergo genetic testing.

Jones and his wife, Gene, were married in 1963. They have three children, and all have front office roles with the Cowboys. Jerry Jones is the team president and general manager.

Davis' original lawsuit claimed that Jones “pursued” Cynthia Davis, who was also married at the time, after they met while she was working for American Airlines out of Little Rock, Arkansas.

Their settlement allegedly called for Jones to pay Cynthia Davis $375,000 and for Alexandra Davis to receive a “certain monthly, annual and special funding” from a trust until she was 21, as well as lump sum payments when she turned 24, 26 and 28.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in