A jury has ruled that Chris Brown must pay nearly $13 million to a woman who was mauled by the R&B star’s 200-pound dog while she was working as a housekeeper at his California home.
On Tuesday (June 30), a jury found that Brown and his company, Black Pyramid LLC, owe $12.9 million in compensation to Maria Avila for negligence, according to the report. Michael S. Murphy Jr.lawyer representing the victim’s sister, Patricia Avila. Patricia, who was working alongside her sister on the day of the attack, received a separate award of $885,000 for emotional distress. Maria’s husband, Oscar Olivo, won another $50,000 in the verdict, Murphy said.
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The incident occurred in 2020 when Maria was throwing out trash near Brown’s home in Tarzana, California. She was attacked out of nowhere by Hades, the singer’s Caucasian Shepherd, a large, aggressive breed of dog known for being used as guard dogs in Russian prisons. Maria claims that Hades tore off “large chunks of her skin,” ultimately causing permanent facial disfigurement, scarring, vision loss, and nerve damage.
Maria sued over the incident in 2021 and a two-week trial took place in June. Brown accepted some responsibility for negligence before the court, but disputed the extent of Maria’s injuries and said she was partly to blame for the incident. On June 18, Brown said he personally warned Maria and Patricia that several dogs on the property were “absolutely not” friendly and that they should not go outside unless accompanied by security officers.
The star also said that Hades was not his personal pet. Rather, he said that the dog was bought and looked after by his security guards to protect the house from break-ins. “I have a lot of stalker-type situations,” he told the jury.
Murphy, Patricia’s lawyer, said this. Billboard Following Tuesday’s verdict: “After more than five years of litigation against Chris Brown, we are thrilled that we were able to obtain justice for our client Patricia.”
“We are so happy for her and her family after everything they went through on that terrible day,” Murphy added. “It was an honor to represent her.”
Representatives for Maria, Olivo and Brown did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the verdict. Brown is currently on tour, co-headlining his Raymond & Brown Tour with Usher.