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SALT LAKE CITY — The attorneys representing Gabby Petito's family in a $50 million negligence lawsuit against the Moab Police Department say police ignored Petito's visible injuries when they interviewed her and her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, weeks before she was murdered in 2021.
The law firm Parker & McConkie released a photo of Petito recovered from her cellphone on Tuesday, as new evidence in the lawsuit. Brian Stewart, an attorney with the firm, wrote that Petito took the photo of herself on Aug. 12, 2021, before she and Laundrie were stopped by police responding to a report that two people were fighting outside of a Moab grocery store.
The photograph shows blood and marks across Petito's nose and left eye, which she had pointed to when she was interviewed by police while in the back of a squad car later in the day. Petito told the responding officers that Laundrie had grabbed her face, leaving marks with his nail, according to police body camera footage.
Stewart wrote that the photo indicates "that she was grabbed over her face in such a way that her airways were likely obstructed" and that "the seriousness and significance" of the injury was "completely ignored." He added that the photo also makes it clear that Petito was not the "predominant aggressor" and that she was also "likely strangled and/or suffocated by Laundrie" before police arrived.
The firm also asserts that the photo is proof that Moab police "failed to recognize the violent grabbing of Gabby's face and obstruction of her nose, mouth and airways" at the time they interviewed the couple, and that Moab police "failed to listen to Gabby, failed to investigate her injuries and the seriousness of her assault, and failed to follow their own training, policies and Utah law."
Petito was reported missing in September 2021 before her body was discovered at Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming later that month. A Teton County coroner ruled that she died by strangulation.
Laundrie, who was initially named a person of interest in the case, later died by suicide. His body was found in Sarasota, Florida in November 2021 along with a notebook where he admitted to killing Petito.
"The Petito family is heartbroken to see how Moab police officers failed to recognize the danger Gabby was in," Stewart wrote. "They remain committed to making sure legislators and law enforcement will have the necessary training and resources to identify and prevent similar tragedies in the future."
Domestic violence resources
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:
- Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Utah's confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
- YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
- Utah's statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
Petito's parents filed a $50 million lawsuit against the police department in November, claiming that police ignored Petito's claims. They also claim that one of the responding officers is a "domestic abuser" who has "used authority and threats of physical violence to control and intimidate sexual partners," which made him "fundamentally biased in his approach to the investigation."
In response to the lawsuit, Moab city officials contended that the officers "acted with kindness, respect and empathy" toward Petito and that they aren't responsible for her death.
"The attorneys for the Petito family seem to suggest that somehow our officers could see into the future based on this single interaction," city officials said. "In truth, on (Aug. 12, 2021), 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."
As the lawsuit plays out in court, Petito's parents are also seeking changes to laws in Utah. They appeared at the Utah Capitol last month to push for a bill that would require stronger domestic violence responses from police officers.
The Utah Senate unanimously passed SB117 on Jan. 30. The bill was sent to the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on Monday before the Utah House votes on the matter.
