Gabby Petito Foundation Presents Their First Scholarship Amidst New Lawsuit

Gabby Petito continues to do good and spread love from the afterlife.

The “Gabby Petito Foundation” is keeping Gabby’s legacy alive and recently celebrated a major milestone.

The Foundation was created following the 22-year-old’s tragic murder. Gabby died at the hands of her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, last summer.

In the wake of her passing, her parents formed the foundation with the mission of addressing the needs of organizations that support locating missing persons and providing aid to organizations that assist victims of domestic violence situations, through education, awareness, and prevention strategies.

On May 12, the “Gabby Petito Foundation” presented its first-ever scholarship.

The official Facebook account for the foundation wrote, “Last night we had the honor of presenting our first Gabby Petito Memorial Scholarship to a high school student pursuing the Arts. We hope to continue turning our pain into purpose. 

A message to all graduates of 2022: Be kind, spread love, and most importantly,  create a life full of memories, not regrets. #bekind#livelife#lifeisshort#congratulationsgraduates#congratsgrad#GabbyPetito#nevergiveup#beyourself#authentic#bebold#grateful#goals#choosehappiness#positivevibes#inspiration”

Gabby’s parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, have always said they want to turn their tragedy into a positive, and that is exactly what they’re doing.

The scholarship comes amid a new lawsuit issued by Schmidt.

On Friday, May 13, Gabby’s mother filed a new wrongful death lawsuit in Florida against the curator of the estate of deceased Brian Laundrie, according to Fox News.

Per the outlet, the lawsuit seeks wrongful death damages of at least $30,000.

It states that Brian intentionally killed Gabby, and also demands a trial by jury and judgement for compensatory damages.

The court documents state Gabby and Brian “became engaged to marry on or about July 2, 2020. On Juy 2, 2021, Brian Laundrie and Gabrielle Petito left New York in a van owned by Gabrielle Petito to take a trip to the western United States which was expected to last for several months.”

Schmidt’s last interaction with her daughter was on August 27, 2021.

“It is believed that on August 27, 2021, Brian Laundrie murdered Gabrielle Petito. The cause of her death was blunt force injuries to the head and neck with manual strangulation,” the complaint continues. “As a direct and proximate consequence of Brian Laundrie’s tortious conduct, Nichole Shcmidt and Joseph Petito incurred funeral and burial expenses, and they have suffered a loss of care and comfort, and have suffered a loss of probably future companionship, society and comfort.

Petito and Schmidt have also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Brian’s parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie.

The lawsuit claims Brian’s parents knew more about Gabby’s death than they let on.

Brian’s parents filed a motion to dismiss the original Petito-Schmidt lawsuit.

The Laundrie family lawyer, Steven Bertolino, made a statement to CBS News on March 30.

“A motion to dismiss the baseless and frivolous lawsuit commenced by Gabby Petito's parents was filed in court,” Bertolino said in the statement. "The Laundries have exercised their constitutional right to refrain from speaking and have relied on counsel to speak for them. This is not only common practice in our civilized society but it embodies the exercise of fundamental rights under the United States and Florida Constitutions. The Laundries' rights are inalienable and the Laundries can never be liable for exercising their legal rights in a permissible way."

In April, WFLA reported, Judge Hunter W. Carroll responded to the motion for the lawsuit’s dismissal by allowing the attorneys for Petito and Schmidt 20 days to file an amended complaint.

That’s exactly what their attorney, Pat Reilly, did.

In a report from WFLA, Gabby’s parents filed an amended lawsuit against the Laundries. There have been six amendments made to the suit.