The parents of Gabby Petito - a young woman who was tragically killed by her fiancé Brian Laundrie during a cross-country road trip - have been awarded $3 million as part of a lawsuit they filed against Laundrie's parents.
Petito was just 22 when she was strangled by Laundrie in Wyoming in August 2021, as the couple was vacationing across the US in a camper van, documenting their adventures along the way in vlogs and Instagram posts.
It wasn't long into their trip, however, that the pair soon began arguing - with their altercations becoming so violent that police reportedly had to separate them for the night, The Daily Mail details.
After strangling his fiancée Laundrie drove the van back to his parents' home in Florida. For several days, Petito's parents asked Laundrie and his parents for information on their daughter's whereabouts - causing Laundrie to flee to a nearby marsh where he eventually died by suicide, per NBC News.
Petito's disappearance made international headlines, especially when news of their troubled relationship reached the public.
It was reported, via UPI, that Laundrie had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Soon after, the FBI announced that they had discovered a notebook close to Laundrie's remains, where he had admitted to murdering Petito after she had apparently sustained injuries after a fall.
"I don't know the extent of Gabby's injuries, only that she was in extreme pain. I ended her life. I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but now I see all the mistake I made," Laundrie wrote, "I am ending my life, not because of fear of punishment, but rather because I can't stand to live another day without her," via News 12 The Bronx.
Earlier this year Petito's parents - Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt - filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Laundrie's parents. In their lawsuit, they argued that the Laundrie family were not only aware that their son had murdered Petito, but that they were also in the process of helping him flee the country, The Daily Mail reported.
On Thursday (November 17) it was announced that the judge in the case had awarded Petito's parents a sum of $3 million. An attorney for the family, Patrick Reilly, spoke to NBC News in the wake of the judgment.
"The Petito family lost their daughter, and they were also denied the opportunity to confront her killer. No amount of money is sufficient to compensate the Petito family for the loss of their daughter, Gabby, at the hands of Brian Laundrie," he stated.
Attorneys acting on behalf of the Petito family have since revealed that they wish to donate any monies received from the lawsuit to The Gabby Petito Foundation, which was founded after Petito's disturbing murder.
