Singer Chris Brown claimed he told his housekeeper and her sister not to go outside the house without an escort. Both Maria Avila and Patricia Avila said that the conversation never happened. Six years after Maria was brutally mauled by a guard dog, a California jury’s verdict indicated that they believed the sisters.
On June 30, 2026, a Los Angeles jury found Brown and his company, Black Pyramid LLC, liable for negligence in a dog attack lawsuit over the 2020 mauling suffered by Maria from a Caucasian Shepherd named Hades while she was working at his Tarzana, California, home in 2020. Maria was awarded $12.9 million for the severe injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder from the dog mauling attack, which she claims makes it impossible for her to work. Her sister received $885,000 for emotional distress and economic losses, while Oscar Olivo, Maria’s husband, was awarded $50,000 in damages for consortium, including loss of companionship.
The trial, which lasted two weeks, included Brown’s admitting he was negligent under California’s strict dog-bite laws during jury selection and that he had left the scene of the attack before authorities arrived. Although he was the one who initially found the injured Maria, Brown had someone else call paramedics because he feared recordings of a 911 call would create a “misleading story, or like a circus.” There was also a mistrial, which led to a delay of about a day and a half while a new panel of jurors was seated.
Does a Dog That Large Come With a Saddle?
According to the lawsuit, Maria was doing her usual housekeeping duties on December 12, 2020. When she went outside to empty a vacuum bag in the garbage, she was attacked by Hades, a guard dog added by Brown’s security guards. Hades was a Caucasian Shepherd, a breed known for its size and used in Russian prisons as a security dog, and it weighed over 200 pounds. Before Brown became aware of the attack and was able to get the dog off Maria, she suffered bites to her neck, face, and other parts of her body. Hades was later euthanized by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Animal Shelter.
While Brown checked to see if Maria was alive, he reportedly did nothing to staunch her wounds or ease her pain. After having security call 911, he left the premises before they arrived, allegedly on the advice of his manager. Although he admitted negligence, Brown insisted he had warned the sisters that Hades was on the property and that they should not go outside without an escort.
Maria’s testimony clashed with his account, denying he had ever issued the warning. She also claimed he had stood over her after the attack, telling his security guards to remove all dogs from the property before anyone showed up and speaking on his phone. She showed her scars and disfigurement from the mauling to the jury and described how the nerve damage has made living as she used to impossible.
One Bite Is Enough
Brown’s admission that Hades had indeed attacked Maria Avila during the initial jury selection made it much more likely that jurors would find him liable. California’s dog bite laws don’t have an allowance for the “one-bite” law, instead imposing strict liability on an animal’s owner. This often leads to negligence claims.
The jury that rendered the final ruling was not the one that started the case. After it was discovered that one of the original jurors had shared information about the case they had searched for online, Judge Huey Cotton declared a mistrial and brought in a new jury. This was in addition to several jurors being dismissed in the original selection process after they claimed they would be unduly influenced by Brown’s past legal issues with the singer Rihanna.
Despite the damages awarded, some might agree that there weren’t really any winners in this case. Hopefully, having her financial future secured will allow Maria Avila to fully recover from her wounds.
