The South Carolina ju-described $700 million to the New York family of a 17-year-old girl who was invited and murdered on a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach on a 2009 spring break trip.
Dawn Preckan, Brittany Drexel's mother, filed a lawsuit in January 2023 accusing Raymond Moody of killing his daughter. Bar Harbor Resort Inc. ;Smith Family Partners LLC led to Drexel's murder while her teenagers were visiting a South Carolina coastal holiday spot with friends.
Ju-dean last month concluded that Moody caused emotional distress in Drexel's family, and that the award includes actual damages and $500 million in punitive damages.
According to Fox 8, Moody reportedly said in court. “I mean, I just regret it. I realized it doesn't matter how sincere I am about how I feel about what I did. It's not enough.”
Angel Cooper Vause, Moody's 57-year-old girlfriend of Georgetown, South Carolina, was recently sentenced to 18 years in prison for lying to federal agents about Drexel's invitation and her role in murder.
On April 25, 2009, Drexel left the Beach and Bar Harbor Hotel and met a friend at a nearby Blue Water Resort. It was the last time someone other than Moody and chance saw a teenager. Security footage showed Drexel going into Myrtle Beach Resort that night.
At 9pm, Drexel was walking alone around Myrtle Beach. While Moody drives a Ford Explorer to lure the teenager, he approaches her and transports her to a remote campsite near his Georgetown home, rapes her and murders her.
Myrtle Beach Police
Moody abandoned Drexel's phone on the North Santee River and buried her body in a “shallow grave.”
According to the Justice Department, Vause has been accused of luring Drexel into a Moody's Van and has pledged to return to the hotel. She kept her involvement and details of Drexel's murder secret for 13 years until authorities discovered the teenager's body in 2022.
“For over a decade, Brittany's loved ones were left to imagine the worst case scenario of Brittany's loss while the booth withheld the truth,” South Carolina-area lawyer Adair Ford Barra said in a statement last month.
“We hope that Brittany's loved ones will be able to have both the closure and the measure of justice that comes with this sentence. May she rest in peace, knowing that her mother's dawn is merciless in pursuit of justice.”
In October 2022, 62-year-old South Carolina Moody pleaded guilty to lure, rape and murdering Drexel. He was sentenced to life in prison.
