The family of Mallory Beach, who died when a boat she was on was crashed by Paul Murdaugh, has received a $15 million settlement after filing a lawsuit for wrongful death.
Beach, 19, was one of the passengers on the boat belonging to the Murdaugh family when it hit a bridge in South Carolina in 2019. The rest of the passengers were transported to hospital but Beach could not be found, and her body was eventually discovered eight days later, having died of drowning and blunt force trauma.
Murdaugh had been uncooperative with medical staff in the wake of the crash and his blood alcohol was found to be three times the legal limit several hours after the incident, despite him being underage at the time.
The Beach family brought the lawsuit against Parker's Corporation, which owns the South Carolina convenience store which sold the underage Murdaugh alcohol earlier in the night, before the group set off on the boat, and was awarded the $15 million settlement.
Attorney Mark Tinsley, who worked on behalf of Beach's family to reach the settlement, told Fox News: "It wasn’t about the money, but that’s a number that represents a level of accountability that they hope would make people who sell alcohol take their responsibility seriously and keep it out of the hands of minors.
"The Beach family didn’t want this settlement confidential because they want other 'Greg Parkers' to know, that if you sell alcohol illegally, you will be held accountable."
Paul Murdaugh, who was the son of former lawyer Alex Murdaugh, was 19 when he bought alcohol at Parker's convenience store on the night in question, using his older brother Buster's ID.
Attorneys for the chain had argued that Murdaugh "defrauded" the store by buying drinks using a valid South Carolina driver's license that wasn't his.
He was driving the boat when it crashed into the bridge, resulting in Beach being thrown from the deck into the freezing cold water where she disappeared.
Friends on board the boat claimed they had asked Murdaugh to let someone else drive after he allegedly began behaving erratically, but he refused.
Murdaugh had been facing three felony counts including boating under the influence and boating under the influence causing death, for which he pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.
He and his mother Maggie were murdered in June 2021 and the charges were dropped in the wake of his death.
The pair had been found dead near the dog kennels at the family's lodge home, after being shot multiple times in the head.
His father, Alex Murdaugh, was charged with homicide over a year later and was found guilty and sentenced to two life sentences to run consecutively without parole.
