Utah judge dismisses wrongful death suit filed against Moab police by Gabby Petito's parents

A Utah judge has dismissed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Gabby Petito's parents against the city of Moab's police department that alleged police failed to protect their daughter from her fiance during a traffic stop captured on video just weeks before authorities said her fiance killed her.

Judge Don M. Torgerson, of the Seventh Judicial District Court in Grand County, Utah, dismissed the lawsuit Monday, though a written order has not yet been filed, court spokesperson Tania Mashburn said Thursday.

The judge cited Utah's Governmental Immunity Act, which immunizes police officers from negligence claims while acting in their official capacity, Steven Jensen, an attorney for Petito's family, said Thursday.

Jensen said their legal team is preparing an appeal.

"Our argument is that the special statute immunizing police officers is unconstitutional because Utah's constitution prohibits limiting someone's rights to bring a wrongful death claim," said Jensen of Parker & McConkie in Midvale, Utah.

Petito's parents — Nichole Schmidt and Joe Petito — filed the lawsuit seeking $50 million against the Moab Police Department and several individual officers in 2022.

Petito's parents, in a statement released by their lawyers Thursday, said: "While the ruling today may feel like a setback, it was not unexpected. We never anticipated that this would be an easy process and look forward to the Utah Supreme Court upholding the Utah Constitution's original intent to preserve the right to recover for wrongful death claims under these circumstances."

Gabby Petito was a 22-year-old Blue Point native who was traveling with her fiance Brian Laundrie, 23, cross-country when they were pulled over by Moab police after they received a 911 call reporting a man slapping a woman.

Body camera footage obtained by Newsday and other news organizations showed the responding officers talking extensively with Petito, who cried at times, during the Aug. 12, 2021, traffic stop near Arches National Park.

Petito told police that Laundrie grabbed her face and left a cut on her cheek, according to the body camera footage. Police did not make any arrests, but ultimately deemed her as the aggressor and directed them to spend the night apart.

"The police investigation was deeply flawed. Despite the witness’s report, the
officers treated Brian as if he were the victim of domestic abuse rather than the perpetrator," the suit says. "They failed to recognize or otherwise identify the obvious signs clearly indicating that Gabby was the victim of domestic abuse."

Petito, who had left Long Island in July 2021 with Laundrie in her white van destined for the West Coast, documented their travels on social media. Her family last communicated with her in late August of that year.

Laundrie returned home to Florida on Sept. 1, 2021, and refused to talk to law enforcement or Petito's family about his fiancee's whereabouts. Her body was found that Sept. 19 in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. She died from manual strangulation and blunt force injuries to the head and neck, the local medical examiner ruled.

Laundrie died by suicide. The FBI said Laundrie admitted killing Petito in a notebook found after his death.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.