Gabby Petito family awarded $30Mil

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A Florida judge has awarded the family of the late Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito $3 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against the estate of the Blue Point native’s alleged killer and former fiancée, Brian Laundrie.

“The Petito family lost their daughter, and they were also denied the opportunity to confront her killer,” said Venice, Florida-based attorney Patrick J. Reilly in a statement Thursday. “No amount of money is sufficient to compensate the Petito family for the loss of their daughter, Gabby, at the hands of Brian Laundrie.”

Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, as administrator of her daughter’s estate, filed the suit in May for monetary damages for the “incurred funeral and burial expenses,” and the “loss of care and comfort,” according to news accounts. Laundrie’s parents, Roberta and Christopher Laundrie, were administrators of their son’s estate.

Sarasota County Circuit Court Judge Hunter W. Carroll issued the final judgment Thursday after a settlement between the parties was reached.

Barry Spivey, a Sarasota, Florida-based attorney who was appointed by the court to be curator of Laundrie’s estate, said by telephone Thursday: “All that I was empowered to do was to collect Laundrie’s bank account and hold it in my trust account.”

Asked about Laundrie’s assets, Spivey said he wasn’t authorized to release the information but said: “It’s not a lot.”

Reilly acknowledged that the Petito estate is unlikely to recoup the full judgment.

“Brian did not have $3 million; it’s an arbitrary number,” said Reilly. “Whatever monies they do receive will help Gabby’s family in their endeavors with the Gabby Petito Foundation. 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.”