“I believe she knew she was in trouble and that this crossed the line and she took that picture in the back of the van,” family attorney Brian C. Stewart tells PEOPLE.
“According to available data, the image was taken a 4:37 PM, at or before the approximate time of the initial 911 call,” attorneys for Petito’s parents said.
The photo showed a cut under her left eye, with blood smeared across her cheek and forehead.
Her parents argued in the lawsuit that their daughter would be alive today had the Moab police officers not mishandled their Aug. 12, 2021, interaction with Laundrie,who killed Petitoweeks later.
“It is totally heartbreaking to see her hurt and scared and in need and to have her concerns ignored the way that it was,” says Stewart. “We believe that if they followed up and investigated those injuries and asked the questions they should have they would have understood the danger she was in and she would have better understood the danger she was in. We believe she would be alive today if they handled it properly.”
The city isn’t commenting on ongoing or pending litigation, Lisa Church, communications manager for the City of Moab, tells PEOPLE.
Last September,body camera footageof the encounter was released, showing Laundrie unfazed as well as a sobbing Petito, who defended her 23-year-old boyfriend’s actions, telling cops she’d hit him in the face during their fight.
In paperwork filed after the incident, police categorized the entire call as a “mental health crisis” rather than an incident of domestic violence.
“The City of Moab sends our sincere condolences to the Petito family. Our hearts go out to them as they continue to deal with the tragic loss of their daughter,” the statement said.
Petito and Laundrie were on a cross-country trip when she vanished in late August 2021. She was reported missing on Sept. 11 — 10 days after Laundrie quietly returned to his parents' Florida home without her, but with her van.
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Laundrie, whovanished around the same timeamid nationwide calls for his arrest, was found dead from aself-inflicted gunshot woundin the Florida wilderness last October.
Next to his body, authoritiesfound a notebookcontaining Laundrie’s full confession.
source: people.com
