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Jury Awards $12.9 Million to Housekeeper Attacked by Dog at Chris Brown's Home
A Los Angeles jury ordered the singer and his company to pay $12.9 million after finding him negligent in a dog attack that left his housekeeper with permanent injuries. The 2020 incident occurred at Brown's home in Tarzana, California.
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A Los Angeles jury found Chris Brown liable for negligence after a 200 lb Caucasian shepherd named Hades attacked housekeeper Maria Avila at his Tarzana home in 2020. The panel ordered Brown and his company Black Pyramid LLC to pay Avila $12.9 million in damages. Avila sustained permanent facial disfigurement, scarring, vision loss and nerve damage.
She told the court the dog ripped off large chunks of her skin and showed jurors scars running from beneath her left eye across her forehead plus raised, pitted skin on her forearm. Brown said he heard the dog growling, went downstairs and found Avila lying motionless and covered in a lot of blood.
He stated that the sight left him in shock and that he followed his manager's advice to leave before emergency services arrived, citing fear of a media circus if his voice appeared on a 911 call.
Brown claimed he had warned the housekeepers the dogs were not friendly and that they should only go outside when security was present. Avila and her sister Patricia denied any such warning took place. The jury also awarded $885,000 to Patricia Avila and $50,000 to Maria Avila's husband Oscar Olivo.
Brown is currently touring the United States with R&B singer Usher and is scheduled to face trial in the UK in October over an alleged 2023 nightclub attack.
