She only wanted to take out the trash. But for Maria Avila, this action in 2020 ended in a nightmare that changed her life forever. Now a jury in Los Angeles has decided that singer Chris Brown (36) must pay for the consequences. The amount: approximately 13 million US dollars. This is reported consistently by US media including the trade publication "Billboard".
On the musician's property in Tarzana, California, a Caucasian Ovcharka named Hades attacked the housekeeper who was employed there at the time in 2020. According to reports, the dog weighed around 200 pounds. Avila was seriously injured in the attack.
In court, Avila described in tears and with the help of a Spanish interpreter what scars the attack had left. She has severe scarring on her face and left arm. To reconstruct the arm, doctors transplanted skin from her abdominal area. She cannot return to her profession as a housekeeper, the testimony stated, as she lacks arm strength and post-traumatic stress disorder makes it impossible for her to be near dogs.
Victim's Daughter: "She is no longer the same"
How much the woman's life has changed was also made clear during the trial by her daughter Yoseline Espinoza. Her mother used to have "a glow" about her, used to dress up, put on makeup and style herself, the daughter said. Now she no longer takes time for that, avoids public places and doesn't want people to see her face.
At the end of the two-week trial, the verdict fell clearly in favor of the plaintiff. According to her attorney Michael C. Murphy Jr., quoted by the music magazine, Brown and his company Black Pyramid LLC must pay Maria Avila 12.9 million dollars for negligence. However, that's not all: Avila's sister Patricia, who was also on duty at the time of the attack, was awarded 885,000 dollars for emotional distress. Avila's husband Oscar Olivo received an additional 50,000 dollars. Maria Avila had originally demanded 90 million dollars.
Brown's Version of Events
The singer had argued that the dog was kept for security purposes and was not his personal pet. In his initial response to the lawsuit, Brown claimed according to "TMZ" that Avila had provoked the animal and caused her own injuries. In court, he stated that he had warned Avila and her sister about the dogs and instructed them to only go outside in the presence of security personnel. Both housekeepers denied such a conversation and pointed out that language barriers would have made such a discussion unlikely.
Another circumstance may have weighed particularly heavily on the jury: Instead of calling emergency services himself or taking care of Avila, Brown left the scene and drove around for hours while employees took over the tasks. He had feared that a "media circus" would ensue if his voice was heard on the emergency call or if he was present when police arrived. In court, he described how he had found Avila motionless amid a lot of blood: "The blood pretty much shocked me," he said.
