SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A Chatham County jury awarded a more than $5 million verdict in a lawsuit surrounding the murder of a whistleblower.
The civil case stems from the August 2017 murder of Eliud Montoya in Garden City.
Montoya’s family sued his employer’s parent company, Davey Tree Expert Company, for what they say is their role in Montoya’s death.
Three men, Pablo Rangel-Rubio, Juan Rangel-Rubio, and Higinio Perez-Bravo are currently serving prison sentences for what prosecutors call a murder-for-hire plot in Montoya’s killing.
The Department of Justice says Montoya was murdered after he found out the men were hiring undocumented workers and taking money from their paychecks while working for a company owned by Davey Tree. Montoya had previously reported this information to his employer.
The jury ultimately decided Davey Tree was negligent in their investigation of Montoya’s whistleblower complaint. They reached the decision late Wednesday afternoon after more than five hours of deliberation.
The jury awarded $3.1 million to Montoya’s wife, Maria Montoya, plus attorney fees of more than $2.3 million to the law firm of Savage, Turner, Pinckney, Savage & Sprouse.
Jurors decided Davey Tree was 90 percent at fault in Montoya’s death, and will be responsible for paying 90 percent of the final judgement.
The trial lasted for a total of eight days, and is the first to take place in Chatham County’s new Gadsden Courthouse.
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