Jury awards $700M to Brittanee Drexel’s mother in lawsuit against daughter’s killer
GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF/Gray News) – A jury ruled the man charged with killing Brittanee Drexel must pay her mother for damages caused in the case.
Jurors unanimously ruled Tuesday that Drexel’s mother, Dawn Conley, is entitled to $500 million in punitive damages and $200 million in actual damages from Raymond Moody, her daughter’s killer.
Conley sued Moody for intentional infliction of emotional distress and/or outrage.
“He’s a psychopath, and so I do not put any credibility one way or the other in anything that comes out of his mind,” said Roy T. Willey, Conley’s attorney. “I think that he is very sorry that he got caught. He obviously watched this unfold on his own TV set, and the billboards up the highway for 13 years and said nothing. I would certainly hope that he’s remorseful, but I don’t put a lot of weight into that.
Closing arguments were heard just beforehand on Tuesday, but not before proceedings were delayed due to Moody arriving late to the courthouse.
Earlier in the trial, Moody told the court he had no intent to put up a defense.
“I’m in loss of words...I have so much regret,” Moody said in court Tuesday. “And I realized it doesn’t matter how sincere I am about how I feel about things I’ve done. It’s not enough.”
Meanwhile, Conley was one of three witnesses brought forward in her side of the case on Monday. She said she’s been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety and has been out of work a few times as a result of her daughter’s disappearance and yearslong search.
Moody confessed to law enforcement that he had kidnapped, raped and killed Drexel and was sentenced to life in prison in October 2022.
The lawsuit stated Moody deprived Conley of the “ongoing love and affection that a child gives a parent” and intentionally caused her emotional distress.
Meanwhile, Moody’s girlfriend, Angel Vause, was just recently sentenced for lying to the FBI about the case. Conley has also publicly called for more charges to be brought against Vause related to her daughter’s death.
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