CHICAGO — A federal jury in Chicago awarded $49.5 million to the family of Samya Stumo, a 24-year-old American killed in the March 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. The jury deliberated approximately two hours before reaching its verdict against Boeing.

The award included $21 million for Stumo's experience on the fatal flight, $16.5 million for the family's loss of her companionship and $12 million for the family's grief. Stumo was en route to Kenya for her first assignment with ThinkWell, a public health non-governmental organization, when the plane went down.

"Our daughter got on the plane completely trusting. She was going on her first assignment in East Africa for an NGO which works on healthcare. And she never dreamed that there would be any problem with the plane itself, and there was a huge problem." said Nadia Milleron, Stumo's mother.

Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford, attorneys at Kline & Specter who represented the family, said in a statement, "We are gratified for the opportunity to try the compensatory damages case." Boeing said in a statement, "We are deeply sorry to all who lost loved ones on Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. While we have resolved nearly all of these claims through settlements, families are entitled to pursue their claims through the court process, and we respect their right to do so."

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed in March 2019, killing 157 people. Lion Air Flight 610 crashed in October 2018, killing 189 people. Together, the two Boeing 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people. Boeing admitted responsibility for the Ethiopian Airlines crash and installed required system upgrades on the 737 MAX fleet after the two disasters.

Boeing reached an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to avoid criminal prosecution over the 737 MAX crashes. The company agreed to pay more than $1.1 billion in fines and an additional $445 million in compensation for the crash victims' families. Boeing also agreed to confidential settlements in dozens of lawsuits brought by family members of victims.

In November 2025, a separate jury awarded more than $28 million in damages to the family of Shikha Garg, who was also killed in the March 2019 crash. The Stumo family's $49.5 million award and the Garg family's award were both issued by juries in Chicago federal court.