Gabby Petito Case, One Year Later: Parents Sue Police for $50 Million as Lifetime Movie Premiere Date Set

The parents of Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old victim of domestic violence, had filed a $50 million lawsuit against the Utah police because they failed to protect their daughter from her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie.

The family claimed that two officials from the Moab Police Department did not properly handle the 911 call of a witness who saw Laundrie hit Petito at a grocery store. The witness also attested that Laundrie took Petito's phone as he drove off and left the young woman in the middle of Moab downtown.

Two weeks after that 911 call, the Moab Police Department had to investigate the disappearance and murder of Petito, who was last seen at the camping grounds in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Brian Stewart, the lawyer for the family, said that had the officers made the proper assessment of the 911 call, the 22-year-old could still be alive today and protected from Laundrie's violent nature, per Fox News.

Officers Eric Pratt and Daniel Robbins were named in the lawsuit, whose body camera footage showed them fist-bumping with the boyfriend and telling the couple they should cool off and sleep in separate rooms. The cops also cited Petito as the aggressor because she told them, while crying and hyperventilating, that she hit Laundrie.

Read Also: Joe Petito, Gabby Petito's Father, Opens Domestic Shelter in Florida to Honor Her Memory

Clear signs Gabby Petito was the victim

James McConkie, another lawyer for the family, said in the press conference that there were clear signs Petito was a victim of domestic violence and needed serious help. He alluded that the Moab Police Department had "chronic problems" protecting the victims. He said that the problem within the police is an "institutional failure."

In January 2022, internal investigations concluded that Pratt and Robbins made mistakes in handling the incident, especially identifying Petito as the aggressor. They also did not attempt to contact the 911 caller or even document the obvious injuries on Petito's body.

Pratt told KCRA that he accepted the investigation's conclusion that he and his partner made mistakes. Though he was devastated and haunted by Petito's death, he believes that he and Robbins were making the right decision regarding the 911 situation at that time.

Petito's missing body was eventually found after nearly a month of search. Medical coroners determined that she died by strangulation and a blunt force to the head. Laundrie went on the run from the police and was eventually discovered after weeks of manhunt. He took his own life but left notes admitting that he killed Petito as an act of mercy as she fell and injured herself at the camping site.

Petito's mom, Nicole Schmidt, said it was "very difficult" to watch the cops' body camera footage. She said she wanted to jump onto the screen and save her daughter. She also noted that Laundrie's confession and reason for killing her daughter were lies.

Gabby Petito movie to premiere on Domestic Violence Awareness month

Meanwhile, Lifetime announced that "The Gabby Petito Story" will be released in October on Domestic Violence Awareness month. Skyler Samuels and Evan Hall star in the film that will chart what went wrong with this young love's story.

The movie is part of Lifetime's Stop Violence Against Women initiative in partnership with the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. However, Schmidt said that they did not approve the film, and no one from the family was involved with the production, per The Sun.

Victims of domestic violence may call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 toll-free or go online via thehotline.org. All communications are private and confidential.

Related Article: Gabby Petito: Timeline Leading to Death as FBI Issues Arrest Warrant for Brian Laundrie