MOAB, Utah — Gabby Petito's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit early Thursday morning against the Moab City Police Department.
Lawyers representing Joseph and Tara Petito and Nichole and Jim Schmidt said the purpose of the lawsuit was "honor Gabby's legacy by demanding accountability and working for change in the system — protect victims of domestic abuse and violence. And prevent such tragedies in the future."
Representatives for the family claimed the "signs and symptoms" of intimate partner violence were visible during an interview Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie had with Moab police.
"The signs and symptoms were there when the police interviewed Gabby, but they were not acted upon even though Utah law required it," the representative said.
The family plans to seek $50 million in damages for claims, including the defendants' negligent failure:
- to understand and enforce the law of the state of Utah,
- to investigate Brian's self-evidently false claims during their interviews with him,
- to properly train the officers to investigate domestic violence situations
- and to properly assess the circumstances, including identifying Brian as the true primary aggressor.
Officers Pratt and Robbins are named as defendants in the notice of claim along with Chief Bret Edge, Assistant Chief Braydon Palmer, and the Moab City Police Department.
An independent investigation into the officers' response found that Pratt and Robbins made "several unintentional mistakes" and it was likely that Petito “was a long-term victim of domestic violence, whether that be physically, mentally, and/or emotionally.”
Lawyers on Thursday said that "Officer Pratt, himself, has been a domestic abuser, who has misused authority and threats of violence to control and intimidate sexual partners — making clear why Officer Pratt was fundamentally biased to his approached to this investigation."
Representatives say Pratt was unfit and unsafe to be a police officer and hopes the police department will do an investigation and take appropriate action.
The family's attorneys say they believe Gabby would be alive if Moab police had enforced the law.
The city of Moab released this statement:
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.
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.
The attorneys for the Petito family seem to suggest that somehow our officers could see into the future based on this single interaction. In truth, on Aug. 12, no one could have predicted the tragedy that would occur weeks later and hundreds of miles away, and the City of Moab will ardently defend against this lawsuit.
Gabby Petito was found dead in September in Bridger-Teton National Forest days after she was reported missing. Authorities say Laundrie later killed himself in Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, leaving behind a notebook in which he confessed to her murder.
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