Last summer the loved ones of Gabby Petito filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Moab police.
Her disappearance and tragic murder rocked the world in 2021. But, weeks earlier, the police came face to face with Gabi and her killer.
That embarrassing moment is no secret. But it could be much worse than we realised.
Gabby’s face bore visible scars from her abuse that night. And there’s a selfie taken at the time to show it.
On August 12, 2021, a bystander called 911 to help a young woman who was apparently being abused.
The young woman was Gabby Petito. The man who contacted emergency services saw a man kicking him.
That man was Brian Laundry. Through increasing physical violence, he took her own life before the end of the month.
Notoriously, the police showed up… but Gabi failed miserably. In fact, officials classified the incident of domestic violence as a “mental health crisis” rather than abuse.
Even the city of Moab agrees that “inadvertent mistakes” by the police left Gabe vulnerable to further abuse. After all, it was Brianna’s abuse that led to her horrific murder at the hands of the man she loved.
Now, her family’s lawsuit against the Moab police has highlighted how blatantly obvious Gabi’s injuries should have been to the police.
Gabi took this photo on August 12, 2021 with her cell phone in the back of her van. She was in Moab at that time.
Attorney Brian C. Stewart Speaks People More about the photo and how it highlights not only the tragedy of her death, but how people could and should have prevented it.
“I believe she knew she was in trouble and crossed the line and took that picture in the back of the van,” Stewart expressed.
“According to available data, the image was taken at or before the estimated time of the initial 911 call at 4:37 p.m.,” the attorneys elaborated on the photo of her injuries.
In the image, we can see a visible cut below Gabi’s eye. There are also traces of blood on his cheeks and forehead.
Domestic abuse tends to escalate over time, whether the target is a child, a partner, or others. It seems that Gabby felt that this escalation was frightening enough to document.
According to the lawsuit, Gabe showed his injuries to an officer.
The filing cites that “he ignored her and did nothing further to investigate or document the injury.”
It is her parents’ belief that Gabi would be alive today if Moab police had acted appropriately in responding to the 911 call and rescuing the victim of an apparent domestic violence incident.
Stewart commented, “To see her hurt and scared and in need and to have her concerns ignored is absolutely heartbreaking.” People,
“We believe if they followed up and examined those injuries and asked questions,” he said.
Stewart continued: “They should have understood the danger she was in and He She could better understand the danger she was in. We believe she would be alive today if they had handled it properly.