The housekeeper attacked by a security dog at Chris Brown’s Los Angeles mansion nearly five years ago wept on the witness stand Wednesday as she described the mauling, saying it left her with severe injuries to her arm and face, extensive and painful scarring, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I will never be the same again,” Maria Avila told jurors in a courtroom in Van Nuys, California.
She testified that surgeons harvested so much skin from her abdomen to graft onto her arm, she was unable to bend at the waist during her lengthy recovery after the Dec. 12, 2020, assault. The lacerations to her face required dozens of sutures, and she had to spend five days in the hospital alone because pandemic restrictions barred visitors, she recalled.
Speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, Avila said the attack robbed her of her physical confidence, her livelihood, and her sense of safety. She testified that she is now afraid of all dogs, and that nerve damage and chronic sensitivity on her left side make it difficult to sleep and perform routine daily tasks. After more than five years, she still lacks the arm strength to scrub floors or ring out a mop. That physical limitation, combined with the fact that most of her prior clients have dogs, means Avila’s return to work as a housekeeper hasn’t been realistic.
“When I go outside, and I see dogs, if I see they’re staying far away, I’m fine. But if I think they’re going to come close to me, I’m afraid,” Avila testified.
With her hands visibly shaking, Ms. Avila rolled up her left sleeve and walked to the jury box. She turned her gaze to the wall as jurors examined the raised and pitted skin covering much of her forearm. She then removed her dark-rimmed glasses and swept back her bangs to reveal a pattern of scars running from beneath her left eye up across her forehead.
Jurors were then shown a series of photographs showing Avila before the attack: on her wedding day; at a formal gathering; posed in an embrace with her husband; and in a portrait, her unscarred left arm wrapped around her waist. Her attorney, Nancy P. Doumanian, asked whether she had taken pride in her appearance before the mauling.
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Previously, she had. Now, she testified, cosmetics no longer adhere properly to the soft scar tissue on her face, and she feels self-conscious about her appearance. “When I look in the mirror, I remember the attack, and I don’t feel safe,” she said, her hands trembling as she reached for a tissue and wiped tears. “I always try to cover my face with my hair and with my glasses.”
Avila said she still hasn’t viewed the graphic photographs of her injuries that are part of the court record. When her attorney asked why she had stepped out of the courtroom during opening statements, when the photographs were shown to jurors, she replied quietly: “It’s very hard for me. I can’t.”
Brown, 36, recalled the dog mauling from his point of view during his own testimony last week, acknowledging that there had been “a lot of blood.” He said he left the scene after his security guard summoned paramedics. He said he had wanted to avoid a media “circus.”
The R&B singer said he was about to shower when he heard the large dog, Hades, growling. He recalled rushing downstairs to find Avila face down and motionless on the concrete walkway outside his front door. He said he secured the dog in a kennel, confirmed Avila was breathing, and called out to his security guard to summon help. When Avila rolled over of her own accord, he could tell she was badly injured, he said. “The blood kind of freaked me out,” he said.
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Brown said he didn’t dial 911 himself, fearing a recording of the call would leak and create a media spectacle. He confirmed he never asked his security team to preserve surveillance footage from the incident and claimed it was his manager’s idea to leave before first responders arrived. He recalled spending several hours driving around before being told it was safe to return home.
Brown admitted he never touched Avila, offered her water, or provided any comfort while she lay injured. “I’m in shock,” he explained. Brown also claimed he had warned Avila and her sister — both Spanish speakers — not to go outside without asking him first because his dogs were not friendly. The women deny the conversation took place.
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In her lawsuit and live testimony, Avila claims the dog appeared without warning when she went outside to dispose of some trash. Before the trial started last week, Brown and his lawyers acknowledged she deserves damages for the incident. They say the dispute now comes down to a “difference of opinion” over how much she is owed.
The judge previously granted Brown’s request to bar questions about his 2009 felony assault of his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna. During jury selection, several prospective jurors said they couldn’t be unbiased because they knew about his history of domestic violence. The judge said that history was not relevant to the dog mauling trial, but he dismissed the jurors anyway.
