Trista Reynolds and her attorney William Childs hold a press conference December 2018 to announce a civil lawsuit that accuses Justin DiPietro of causing the death of Reynold's daughter Ayla in 2011. Reynolds holds a photograph of DiPietro, Ayla's father, who they are hoping to find with the help of the public. Portland Press Herald file photo
An insurance settlement in the case of missing Waterville toddler Ayla Reynolds spells the end to the wrongful death suit filed by her mother, but Maine State Police continue to investigate the case, which could still be prosecuted.
Ayla Reynolds in the photograph that was distributed after she disappeared from a Waterville house in December 2011. She was 20 months old at the time and was declared legally dead in 2017. She would have been 14 years old today. Courtesy photo
Reynolds' mother, Trista Reynolds, was awarded the settlement last month after all parties agreed to it, according to Kennebec County Superior Court documents. As part of the settlement, they agreed to dismiss the wrongful death suit.
But Maine State Police continue to investigate the disappearance and, if sufficient evidence is gathered in the future to warrant a murder indictment, the Office of the State Attorney General could prosecute.
Related Ayla Reynolds, toddler missing since 2011, declared dead by judge
Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro, reported Ayla missing Dec. 17, 2011, from his mother's house on Violette Avenue in Waterville, launching what would become among the most costly investigations in Maine State Police history.
Trista Reynolds, represented by her attorney, William H. Childs, initially filed the wrongful death civil lawsuit against DiPietro, who was living at the house at the time and told police that the last time he saw the 20-month-old toddler was when she went to bed the prior night. The lawsuit, filed in Cumberland County where Trista Reynolds lived at the time, was later amended to include his mother, Phoebe DiPietro, who owns the house, and his sister, Elisha DiPietro, who also was living there.
A judge in 2017 declared Ayla dead, paving the way for Reynolds to file the wrongful death suit. In 2022, a judge approved her request to include Phoebe DiPietro and Elisha DiPietro in that suit. Phoebe DiPietro reportedly was not at the house Dec. 16, 2011, the Friday night before Ayla was reported missing, but Elisha was there, according to court records.
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As part of the suit, the three DiPietros faced civil counts of wrongful death, conscious pain and suffering, and wrongful interference with the body of a deceased person. Additionally, Justin DiPietro faced a count of breach of parents' duty of care to a minor child.
The suit said there was sufficient evidence to allege that his mother and sister, individually or together with him, had the opportunity and means to participate in causing severe injury to Ayla that led to her death and that all three participated in an unsuccessful attempt to clean up and conceal blood stains found in multiple locations before authorities arrived at the house.
Related Mother of Ayla Reynolds expands wrongful death lawsuit to include child's grandmother, aunt
Meanwhile, Phoebe DiPietro carried a homeowner's insurance policy with State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., as well as a $1 million personal liability umbrella policy for September 2011 to September 2012 from that company, according to court documents.
State Farm brought a declaratory judgment action to court more than a year ago, asking the court if State Farm had a duty to defend and compensate anyone for any and all injuries and damages that may have been sustained by Trista and/or Ayla Reynolds as was alleged in the wrongful death suit that was then pending in the Cumberland court.
State Farm was listed as the plaintiff in the declaratory judgment action, Phoebe, Justin and Elisha DiPietro were listed as defendants, and Trista Reynolds, both individually and as the personal representative of Ayla's estate, was listed as a party-in-interest.
All parties met for mediation and a settlement was reached, according to court documents. The amount of the settlement remains confidential. All parties agreed to dismissal of the wrongful death suit as a result, according to court documents dated Aug. 8.
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Caitlyn S. Smith of Rudman Winchell of Bangor represented State Farm, Michael Waxman of Portland represented Justin DiPietro, Laura A. Maher of Monaghan Leahy LLP of Portland represented Phoebe and Elisha DiPietro, and Childs, also of Portland, represented Trista Reynolds and Ayla's estate.
Emails and phone messages left Friday for all four attorneys were not returned.
The wrongful death suit, in a section titled "Facts Common to all Counts," states that prior to Oct. 17, 2011, Trista Reynolds had primary physical custody of Ayla and on or around that date, Justin DiPietro took physical custody. Trista Reynolds was in the hospital at the time and Justin DiPietro went to her sister Jessica Reynolds' apartment where Ayla was staying, according to the suit.
Related Justin DiPietro, professing innocence, has stayed out of public eye
Officer Charles Weaver of the Lewiston Police Department was there when Justin DiPietro went to get Ayla and according to Weaver's official police report, Ayla was in the kitchen, playing and laughing and trying to make conversation with Weaver. When Justin DiPietro came to the door and Ayla saw him, she immediately broke down, crying, and tried to flee the kitchen, according to the report, which is included in the court documents.
Ayla was taken to the DiPietro home in Waterville and about a month before she disappeared, Justin DiPietro purchased a life insurance policy on her.
On Nov. 11 that year, Ayla's left arm was fractured. Justin reported he was carrying her and tripped, falling onto her. She was not taken to the hospital until the next day.
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Trista Reynolds, left, and Justin DePietro speak on the steps of City Hall during a vigil in Castonguay Square in Waterville for their missing toddler, Ayla Reynolds, on Jan. 28, 2012. Morning Sentinel file
An investigation and search of the Violette Avenue house by police revealed evidence of blood in multiple locations including in the basement where Justin DiPietro reportedly slept, in Ayla's bedroom, on furniture in the house, as well as on Ayla's car seat in DiPietro's truck. The Maine State Police Crime Laboratory tested the blood and established it to be Ayla's.
Maine State Police have long maintained that the people in the Violette Avenue house when Ayla disappeared know more about her disappearance than they are saying.
Related Eleven years after disappearance of Ayla Reynolds, wrongful death suit, police probe continue
Justin DiPietro's last known address was Winnetka, California, where, in 2019, he was served with papers notifying him of the wrongful death lawsuit. He has always denied he had anything to do with Ayla's disappearance and has long maintained that someone must have abducted her from the house. A Maine State Police spokesman said at the time of Ayla's disappearance that DiPietro's abduction explanation "doesn't pass the straight-face test," because authorities found no evidence to support the child had been taken during the night.
Even so, Waxman, his attorney, said in 2022 that there was not enough evidence to prove claims against him.
"They have an uphill battle in this case to prove my client caused this child's death," Waxman said at the time. "They don't have solid evidence any particular person did any particular thing to this girl."
The lead state police investigator, Detective Sgt. Ryan Brockway of the Major Crimes Unit-Central, said in December 2023 that police in 2022 received 13 leads in the case from people in Maine and around the country. He has been working the case since 2013.
Related Read more stories about the Ayla Reynolds case
"When we receive the leads, they are evaluated and then investigated," Brockway said at the time.
An email to Brockway on Friday afternoon seeking comment was not immediately returned.
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