A California jury has ordered American singer Chris Brown to pay nearly $13 million in damages to a housekeeper who was severely injured after being attacked by a large security dog at his Tarzana home in December 2020.

The ruling, delivered on Tuesday, June 30, followed a two-week trial in which jurors found Brown and his company, Black Pyramid LLC, liable for negligence.

The lawsuit was filed by Maria Avila, who was mauled by Hades, a 200-pound Caucasian shepherd, while taking out the trash outside Brown's property. According to her attorney, Michael C. Murphy Jr., the jury awarded Avila $12.9 million in damages.

In addition, Maria's sister, Patricia Avila, who was working at the residence during the incident, was awarded $885,000 for emotional distress, while Maria's husband, Oscar Olivo, received $50,000.

Reacting to the verdict, Murphy said the legal team was pleased to have secured justice for the family after more than five years of litigation, describing it as an honour to represent them.

During the trial, Brown maintained that the dog was kept strictly for security purposes and was not his personal pet. However, testimony presented in court alleged that instead of helping Avila or calling emergency services after the attack, Brown left the scene and drove around for several hours.

According to the testimony, Brown instructed his employees to contact 911 and assist the injured housekeeper, explaining that he wanted to avoid attracting media attention if he was present when authorities arrived.

Before the trial, Brown acknowledged some responsibility but told the court he had previously warned Maria Avila and her sister not to go outside unless security personnel were present because of the dogs. The sisters denied ever receiving such a warning, arguing that language barriers would have made such a conversation unlikely.

The verdict comes just days after Brown launched his co-headlining U.S. stadium tour with fellow singer Usher.