Gabby Petito's last known sighting inside Wyoming Whole Foods with Brian Laundrie
Security camera video from the Whole Foods in Jackson, Wyoming, shows Gabby Petito and her suspected killer Brian Laundrie browsing the shelves on Aug. 27, 2021, the last date she was seen alive.
The Gabby Petito civil lawsuit in Florida appears headed to trial after a judge denied all of the motions to dismiss the case and gave the defendants 10 days to respond.
The suit argues that Brian Laundrie's parents and their attorney, Steven Bertolino, knew that Petito was dead when they issued a public statement on Sept. 14, 2021, that said they hoped she's reunited with her parents. At the time, law enforcement was investigating Petito's disappearance as a missing person case.
The trial is scheduled for May 2024.
"After review of all factual allegations of the Second Amended Complaint, and all reasonable inferences arising from the allegations in favor the (Petitos) it can be reasonably inferred that the conduct alleged was directed toward the (Petitos)" because the statement references her family twice, Florida Judge Danielle Brewer wrote in Wednesday's decision.
A press conference is held by Gabby Petito's family in Salt Lake City, Utah, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. The family is filing a wrongful death suit against Moab Police Department. Seated, left to right, are Tara and Joseph Petito. (Fox News Digital)
Bertolino told Fox News Digital that he's "disappointed" in the judge's decision, but it was "not unexpected."
"At this stage of the process the plaintiffs’ allegations have to be accepted as true and the court can not consider anything not contained in the complaint," Bertolino said. "As the process moves forward, I am confident that the plaintiffs will not be able to provide the proof necessary to support their baseless allegations."
Laundrie's parents argued that the case should be dismissed because the plaintiffs "must be present for the infliction of emotional distress," and Bertolino argued that his "reunited with her family" statement could mean Petito's remains would be reunited with her family, according to court documents.
The judge ruled that both arguments fell short of the legal threshold to toss the case.
Brian Laundrie and Gabby Pettio pictured in Moab police bodycam during an Aug. 12, 2021, domestic violence stop that led to her family's wrongful death lawsuit against Moab. (Moab Police Department)
In her ruling, Brewer said that the references to Petito's family undermine the Laundries' argument.
"To the extent (the Laundries) made additional arguments to support dismissal in their motion or at the hearing as to same, the court has determined that none are sufficient to preclude the court at the motion to dismiss stage from concluding that the Second Amended Complaint," Brewer wrote.
Chris and Roberta Laundrie push a shopping cart on Oct. 19, 2021, the day before their son's remains were found in the area they had been telling investigators to search for weeks. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
In a separate filing, the Florida circuit judge ruled that Bertolino's statement on Sept. 14, 2021, on its own "doesn't constitute outrageous conduct," but that when taken collectively with other statements it does.
The filing specifically mentions a statement on Sept. 19, 2021, when Petito's remains were found at a campsite near Jackson, Wyoming.
GABBY PETITO LAWSUIT: HEARING ON ROBERTA LAUNDRIE'S ‘BURN AFTER READING’ LETTER TO SON
Gabby Petito's parents Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt in a Florida courtroom on Wednesday, May 24, during a hearing in their civil lawsuit against the parents of their daughter's suspected killer, Brian Laundrie. (Pool)
"Taking all alleged facts as true and making reasonable inferences in favor of (Petito's family), reasonable inference could be made that Defendant Bertolino knew everything his clients knew and still acted as alleged in the Second Amended Complaint," Brewer said in her ruling.
"Whether or not the conduct alleged (in the lawsuit) was done as a matter of right in a permissible way is a question for another day under a different review standard."
Gabby Petito in an undated photograph. (North Port Police)
Both rulings stressed that this is just one step in an ongoing court case.
The "ruling does not determine what happened to Gabby Petito. Instead, today’s ruling is technical in nature," both judgments said. "It determines only whether Gabby Petito’s parents (the Plaintiffs) stated a valid claim against . . . the Defendants."
GABBY PETITO'S PARENTS ASK BRIAN LAUNDRIE'S PARENTS ABOUT MAJOR WITHDRAWALS IN NEW COURT FILING
The judge gave the Laundrie family and Bertolino 10 days to respond to the Petitos' lawsuit.
Chris and Roberta Laundrie have not been criminally charged in connection with Petito's death, but this civil case is bringing out details of the deadly cross-country trip in 2021.
Christopher and Roberta Laundrie make their way through the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on Oct. 20, 2021. Inset: The front of an envelope that contained a letter Roberta wrote to her son Brian Laundrie. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital, inset: Pat Reilly)
Brian claimed responsibility for Petito's death in a suicide note found with his remains on Oct. 20, 2021, in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park behind the Laundries' North Port, Florida, home.
According to the FBI, Laundrie died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Near his decomposed remains, they found a handwritten suicide note and confession preserved in a dry bag and other personal effects.
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In the note, first published by Fox News Digital, Brian Laundrie declared, "I ended her life."
"I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made," he wrote. "I panicked. I was in shock."
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