New Gabby Petito Cell Phone Photo Shows Cuts, Blood Smeared Across Her Face

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — Attorneys for the family of Gabby Petito released a photo Monday that she snapped of herself — after her fight with Brian Laundrie in Utah — showing the tearful Long Islander with a cut on her left cheek and blood smeared on her face.

The photo was released on Salt Lake City law firm Parker and McConkie's website in response to media inquiries about its mention in the wrongful death lawsuit filed in Utah against the Moab City Police Department in November. The firm offered to release the photo, along with "limited information."

They believe it shows she was likely strangled and/or suffocated before her encounter with police.

The photo, which was found on Petito's phone, was taken by her in the back of her van in Moab, Utah, on Aug. 12, 2021, before a traffic stop with Moab City Police, the law firm states.

Data shows the image was taken a 4:37 p.m., at or before the time of the initial 911 call from a good Samaritan who saw their fight, according to the law firm.

Quoting from the lawsuit, an accompanying article on the website, stated: "Gabby pointed out the injury to Officer [Eric] Pratt, but he ignored her and did nothing more to investigate or document the injury."

"The photo demonstrates the cut previously noted on her left cheek as well as blood smeared from her forehead, across her left eye and cheek, and over her nose, indicating that she was grabbed over her face in such a way that her airways were likely obstructed," the article stated.

Petito documented the injury and tried to tell the officers, but "the seriousness and significance" of "the assault and injury was completely ignored," the article states.

"The officers ignored this critical evidence and did nothing to follow up on, or to further investigate, Gabby’s report that Brian had violently grabbed her face and cut her cheek," the article continues.

The passage then goes on to quote Utah Criminal Code’s definition of aggravated assault includes any act impeding breathing or circulation through violence by “applying pressure to the neck or throat” or by “obstructing the nose, mouth, or airway."

Domestic violence experts who have reviewed the evidence have previously stated that clues lead them to believe that Petito was most likely strangled and/or suffocated before police stopped her and Laundrie, according to the law firm.

Research has shown that if a victim of intimate partner violence is strangled or suffocated even one time, she is 750 percent more likely to be killed by that person, the law firm states.

Petito's tragic photo makes several critical points clear, including that she was not the predominant aggressor when she was assaulted by Laundrie and that she likely was strangled and/or suffocated by him before the police arrived, according to the law firm.

Also that Moab police "failed to recognize the violent grabbing of Gabby’s face and obstruction of her nose, mouth, and airways as a critical precursor to her eventual death by strangulation that occurred a short time later," the law firm states.

"Moab police failed to listen to Gabby, failed to investigate her injuries and the seriousness of her assault, and failed to follow their own training, policies, and Utah law," the passage continues.

Petito disappeared while on cross-country van life trip with Laundrie in August 2021. He then drove her van to his parents' house in Florida, where they had been living for the previous two years.

Petito's mother reported her missing on Sept. 11, after she lost contact with her. Multiple law enforcement agencies across the country undertook a massive investigation into Petito's disappearance, while Laundrie refused to speak with them.

In that time, police bodycam footage surfaced showing Petito and Laundrie in a traffic stop with Moab police. In the video, the couple give their versions of a public argument they had on a nearby Main Street.

While back in Florida, Laundrie later drove to a swamp and shot himself. He left his confession in his notebook, claiming he strangled her out of mercy after she fell into a ravine.

Petito's body was found near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on Sept. 19, 2021.

Family attorney Brian Stewart declined comment, and instead referred to the article on the law firm's website.

Moab City spokeswoman Lisa Church told Patch officials do not comment on matters of active litigation.

Laundrie family attorney, Steven Bertolino of West Islip, declined to comment.

In the year since Petito's death, her family has continued to work with the foundation they founded in her honor to help the victims of domestic violence, often leaving touching tributes on social media on special days like valentine's day and the anniversary of her death.

"The Petito family is heartbroken to see how Moab police officers failed to recognize the danger Gabby was in, they remain committed to making sure legislators and law enforcement will have the necessary training and resources to identify and prevent similar tragedies in the future," the law firm states.

While in Utah to support the passage of a law requiring the use of training and procedures to more effectively identify and assess domestic violence dangers, Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt, gave the following statement: “Our daughter, Gabby, died as a result of intimate partner violence that could have and should have been identified by law enforcement using the lethality assessment."

"We believe that if the lethality assessment had been properly used in her situation, together with the recommended support and resources, Gabby would still be alive today.”

Utah's Senate unanimously passed the bill.

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