Chris Brown has been found liable in the civil lawsuit stemming from the 2020 dog attack that left his former housekeeper permanently disfigured, with a Los Angeles jury awarding more than $13 million in damages. The verdict marks the end of a legal battle that has stretched on for more than five years.

At the center of the lawsuit was Maria Avila, a longtime housekeeper employed at Chris Brown's Tarzana residence. What began as a routine task of taking out the trash in December 2020 ended in tragedy when Hades, Brown's 200-pound Caucasian shepherd, allegedly mauled her, leaving her with permanent scarring, multiple surgeries and trauma that she said made it impossible to return to work. After hearing weeks of testimony, the jury found Brown and his company, Black Pyramid LLC, liable for negligence.

The jury awarded Maria Avila $12.9 million, while her sister, Patricia Avila, received $885,000 for emotional distress. Maria's husband, Oscar Olivo, was separately awarded $50,000, bringing the total damages to more than $13 million.

According to Billboard, Maria Avila's attorney, Michael C. Murphy Jr., called the verdict a long-awaited victory after years of litigation. "After more than five years of litigating against Chris Brown, we are thrilled that we were able to get justice for our client," Murphy told the publication. Brown and his representatives had not publicly commented following the jury's decision.

The verdict followed two weeks of emotional testimony that painted sharply different versions of what happened inside Brown's home on the day of the attack.

What the Jury heard before declaring Chris Brown guilty

Throughout the trial, Chris Brown maintained that Hades was kept primarily as a security dog rather than a personal pet. He also testified that he had warned Maria Avila and her sister never to go outside unless security personnel were present, a claim both women denied, arguing such a conversation never took place and would have been difficult because of language barriers.

One of the trial's most closely scrutinized moments centered not only on the attack itself but on Brown's actions afterward. Testimony suggested the singer left the property instead of calling 911 himself or remaining with Avila while emergency responders arrived. Jurors ultimately sided with Avila's account.

Avila's testimony illustrated the lasting consequences of the attack. Speaking through an interpreter, she described multiple surgeries, skin grafts and permanent scars across her face and arm, while family members told the court that the once-outgoing housekeeper had withdrawn from public life and could no longer work because of limited mobility and post-traumatic stress around dogs.

With the jury now holding Brown and his company liable, the verdict closes one of the singer's most significant civil legal battles in recent years and delivers a multimillion-dollar judgment to a family that argued their lives were permanently altered by a single afternoon in 2020.

What are your thoughts on the jury's decision? Let us know in the comments!

Written by

Aarav Poonia

Edited by

Aliza Siddiqui