Gabby Petito’s family has been awarded $3 million in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Brian Laundrie’s estate, Access Hollywood has confirmed.
Sarasota County Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll in Florida issued the order in a judgment filed on Thursday.
The lawsuit claimed that Laundrie, Petito’s fiancé, intentionally killed Nichole Schmidt and Joseph Petito’s 22-year-old daughter and they “incurred funeral and burial expenses, and they have suffered a loss of care and comfort, and suffered a loss of probable future companionship, society and comfort.”
The Petito family attorney, Patrick Reilly, shared a statement with Access Hollywood regarding what the $3 million settlement will go towards.
“The Petito family lost their daughter, and they were also denied the opportunity to confront her killer. No amount of money is sufficient to compensate the Petito family for the loss of their daughter, Gabby, at the hands of Brian Laundrie. Brian did not have $3 million; it’s an arbitrary number. Whatever monies they do receive will help Gabby’s family in their endeavors with the Gabby Petito Foundation,” the statement read.
“The Gabby Petito Foundation will continue to address the needs of organizations that support locating missing persons and to provide aid to organizations that assist victims of domestic violence situations, through education, awareness, and prevention strategies. Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt wish to turn their personal tragedy into a positive. It is their hope that Gabby’s foundation will bring these important issues into the forefront of the public eye to the benefit of all our communities,” it concluded.
Earlier this month, Gabby’s family filed a $50 million lawsuit against the Moab Police Department in Utah.
According to a press conference on Nov. 3, Petito’s parents allege that she would still be alive if the Moab PD would have done more during their August 2021 interaction with the couple.
The family claims authorities mishandled the contact they made with the couple following reports from bystanders who said they witnessed a domestic dispute between them.
“The officers egregiously misinterpreted Gabby’s extreme emotional distress, seeing it as the cause of the domestic violence rather than its result. Officer Pratt, in particular, was fundamentally biased in his approach to the investigation, choosing to believe Gabby’s abuser, ignoring evidence that Gabby was the victim and intentionally looking for loopholes to get around the requirements of Utah law and his duty to protect Gabby,” the lawsuit read in part.
Officials from the City of Moab released a statement in response to the wrongful death suit.
“The death of Gabrielle Petito in Wyoming is a terrible tragedy, and we feel profound sympathy for the Petito and Schmidt families and the painful loss they have endured. At the same time, it is clear that Moab City Police Department officers are not responsible for Gabrielle Petito’s eventual murder,” the statement said.
“Ms. Petito is believed to have died in Wyoming in late August 2021, more than two weeks after she and Brian Laundrie visited Moab and interacted with Moab City Police. At that time, our officers acted with kindness, respect, and empathy toward Ms. Petito.”
Gabby’s parents reported her missing on Sept. 11, 2021, shortly after her fiancé, Laundrie, returned to Florida without her.
Her body was found in Grand Teton National Park a week later following a nationwide search and her death was ultimately ruled a homicide and her cause of death was determined to be strangulation.
After his return to Florida, Laundrie went missing in mid-September. His body was later discovered in the Carlton Reserve.
His family’s lawyer revealed in November that the 23-year-old died from a gunshot wound to the head and that the manner of death was suicide, according to NBC News.
Copyright © 2024 by NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.