Woman sues Jerry Jones, alleges Dallas Cowboys owner paid her mother to conceal that he was her biological father

A 25-year-old woman is suing Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, alleging that the billionaire paid her mother hundreds of thousands of dollars in 1996 to conceal that he was the girl's biological father, a secret that the lawsuit says she has carried her entire life.

At the age of 1, the girl was bound to secrecy by a confidentiality agreement signed by her mother, according to the lawsuit.

Jones denied in settlement documents that he was the biological father of the child. But he paid the woman $375,000 «in exchange for confidentiality» and had an Arkansas friend and lawyer named Donald Jack set up two trusts for the girl linked to her and her mother, keeping Jones' paternity a secret, according to the lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN.

A Texas judge ordered the case sealed this week after a motion filed by Jones' lawyer.

The Dallas Morning News first reported on the lawsuit earlier Wednesday.

Alexandra Davis, who lives in Washington, D.C., filed her lawsuit against Jones, now 79, in Dallas County court last Thursday. It says Jones courted her mother, Cynthia Davis Spencer, in 1995, when she was working at the American Airlines ticket counter in Little Rock, Arkansas. Spencer was estranged from her husband at the time, the lawsuit says.

Alexandra Davis «has lived her life fatherless and in secret and in fear that if she should tell anyone who her father was, she and her mother would lose financial support, or worse,» the lawsuit alleges.

«Plaintiff has had to endure the endless public profiles of her father and siblings while forced to remain secret to everyone, including her closest confidants,» it says.

Jones and his wife, Gene, have three children — Stephen, Jerry Jr., and Charlotte Jones Anderson.

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