Gabby Petito’s family is suing the Moab City Police Department.
TMZ reports that her relatives are hitting the Utah police unit with a wrongful death suit, claiming the cops could have done more to save Petito’s life. The police came into contact with Petito in a domestic violence incident around two weeks before Brian Laundrie killed her.
The filing alleges that the police didn’t investigate Laundrie thoroughly enough during their run-in, and that the cops made him out to be the victim instead of Petito. The family says the police “egregiously misinterpreted” the incident, and that their case is a “vehicle for systemic change and a reckoning about how the police enforce the State’s domestic abuse laws.”
They are pursuing $50 million in damages.
“We feel profound sympathy for the Petito and Schmidt families and the painful loss they have endured,” the city of Moab told the outlet. “At the same time, it is clear that Moab City Police Department officers are not responsible for Gabrielle Petito’s eventual murder.”
When officers came across the couple on Aug. 12, 2021, Petito was crying, and cuts were visible on her face and arm. The police ultimately suggested that they stay apart for the night. It’s believed that Petito later died in Wyoming in late August 2021.
This past August, Petito’s family revealed they were going to lodge a $50 million lawsuit against the police with their notice of complaint.
“Gabby Petito’s parents have asked the law firms of Parker & McConkie and Zimmerman Booher to represent them in a lawsuit against the Moab police for their negligent failure to first understand the law and enforce it and second, for the wrongful death of their daughter,” the family’s lawyer said at the time. “In this regard, this morning we’ve filed a notice of claim which is the first step in initiating future litigation.”
