{"id":67717,"date":"2026-07-01T01:56:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T01:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/chris-brown-must-pay-housekeeper-13-million-over-dog-attack\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T01:56:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T01:56:31","slug":"chris-brown-must-pay-housekeeper-13-million-over-dog-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/chris-brown-must-pay-housekeeper-13-million-over-dog-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Brown Must Pay Housekeeper $13 Million Over Dog Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tChris Brown<\/a> must pay $13 million in damages to the housekeeper who was mauled by a massive security dog on his property in December 2020, a California jury decided Tuesday. Billboard<\/a> was first to report the news.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe housekeeper, Maria Avila, gave emotional testimony<\/a> at the two-week trial, breaking down on the witness stand as she described the Dec. 12, 2020, mauling at Brown\u2019s home in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles. She said the attack left her with severe injuries to her arm and face, extensive scarring, and post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI will never be the same again,\u201d she told jurors in the courtroom in Van Nuys, California, on June 24.<\/p>\n

\n\tTestifying in Spanish through an interpreter, Avila described a grueling recovery. She said surgeons harvested skin from her abdomen to graft onto her mangled arm, leaving her in extreme pain and unable to bend at the waist. The lacerations to her face required dozens of stitches. Pandemic restrictions barred her family from visiting during her five days in the hospital, forcing her to endure the ordeal alone.<\/p>\n

\n\tA mother of three, Avila told jurors that nerve damage and chronic sensitivity on her left side still make it hard for her to sleep and carry out basic daily tasks. She no longer has the arm strength to scrub floors or wring out a mop, she said. Meanwhile, the attack also left her afraid of all dogs. That fear, combined with her physical limitations, has effectively ended her career as a housekeeper, since most of her former clients own dogs, she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tAvila\u2019s daughter, Yoseline Espinoza, testified after her mother, recalling the panicked call she received from her aunt, Patricia Avila, who had also been working at the house that day and filed her own claims against Brown. \u201cShe was just freaking out, telling me, \u2018Your mom can\u2019t breathe. She keeps passing out on me. The ambulance is still not here. Chris Brown fled the scene,’\u201d Espinoza testified. \u201cI did not think she was going to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBrown, 37, testified as the first witness<\/a> at the trial. He told jurors he heard the dog, Hades, growling outside and rushed downstairs to find Avila face down and motionless on the ground. He told jurors he locked up the dog, called out to his security guard to summon help, and bent down to make sure Avila was breathing. He acknowledged he didn\u2019t personally call 911, saying he feared a recording would be leaked to the media. He also said he never touched Avila, offered her water, brought her a towel, or gave her any comfort beyond telling her help was on the way.<\/p>\n

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\n\tDescribing Avila\u2019s injuries for the jury, the singer pointed to his forehead and traced a finger down his nose and under his eye. \u201cIt was cut, like, severed,\u201d he said. \u201cI know it\u2019s graphic, but you could see the skin was kind of raised. You could see the cut and the blood coming out. \u2026It was a lot of blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBrown said he left his property before paramedics arrived because he\u2019s a celebrity. He said his manager allegedly suggested it. He also confirmed he never asked his security to preserve his home surveillance video from the incident.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat would have been the problem with you being there and waiting for paramedics to get there with a woman bleeding in your driveway? Why would that be a problem for you as a celebrity?\u201d Avila\u2019s lawyer, Nancy Doumanian, asked, incredulous.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBecause of how my image is and always used. I didn\u2019t want a misleading story, or like a circus, from my status. It\u2019s pretty sticky when it comes to that. So me staying out of the way was advised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDidn\u2019t you think your reputation would take a bigger hit if you fled the scene?\u201d Doumanian pressed.<\/p>\n

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\n\tBrown said he did not flee. He said he spent a couple of hours driving around and stopped at a gas station before he was advised it was safe to return home.<\/p>\n

\n\tAvila testified that she didn\u2019t know the large Caucasian Shepherd, also known as a Central Asian Ovcharka, was on the property that day. She told jurors she only saw Brown\u2019s two other dogs, small French bulldogs, and she denied Brown\u2019s claim that he warned her not to go outside without an escort because there was a third dog on the property that was not friendly.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking softly, Avila said she had gone outside to empty a vacuum bag when the attack occurred, and that she can only recall flashes of the mauling and its aftermath. She told jurors she had to leave the courtroom during opening statements when graphic photos of her injuries were displayed, and that she still hasn\u2019t been able to look at them. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard for me. I can\u2019t,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith her hands visibly shaking, she rolled up her left sleeve and walked to the jury box, turning her gaze to the wall as jurors examined the raised and pitted skin covering much of her forearm. She then removed her glasses and swept back her bangs to reveal a pattern of scars running from beneath her left eye up across her forehead.<\/p>\n

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\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tBefore trial, Brown admitted negligence under California\u2019s dog-bite statute in a court filing. He continued to dispute the extent of Avila\u2019s injuries and claimed she was partly at fault for going outside alone. Brown\u2019s attorney acknowledged during jury selection that Avila was entitled to some damages but said there was a \u201cdifference of opinion\u201d over the amount.<\/p>\n

\n\tSeveral prospective jurors were dismissed early in the selection process after saying they could not be impartial because of Brown\u2019s 2009 felony assault conviction involving his then-girlfriend Rihanna<\/a>. The judge previously ruled that history was not relevant to the case, but the prospective jurors brought it up on their own. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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