Who is James Khuri? $18M settlement in fatal Lamborghini crash involving LA millionaire's teen son
UPDATE: The family of Monique Munoz, who was killed when millionaire James Khuri's 17-year-old son Brendan Khuri crashed his father's Lamborghini into her car in Los Angeles, has reached an $18.85 million settlement in the case, attorneys said on Wednesday.
The settlement will help her family “finally get some closure for this horrific tragedy," said Daniel Ghyczy, an attorney for the family.
Read the original story below:
A teenage son of a multi-millionaire was arrested for slamming a high-speed Lamborghini into a Los Angeles woman, leading to her death. According to the police department, Brendan Khuri, 17, was driving a Lamborghini SUV and was allegedly street racing with an Audi when it plowed into Monique Munoz's car last month, police said. Munoz's car was crushed and she had to be cut free from the wreck.
Now, Brendan's father James Khuri has drawn an immense amount of criticism for giving his teenage son the $200,000 Lamborghini as a birthday gift in 2020. Not just that, Khuri raised many eyebrows after celeb magazine reported: "Sources tell us that there was an incident in Beverly Hills a few days after the accident, and Khuri was surrounded by armed guards. The incident occurred when an unnamed person screamed, "killer!" at Khuri. Khuri allegedly was laughing and joking like nothing was wrong, his behavior nonchalant and disturbing in the wake of the tragedy his family had just days before been embroiled in."
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The website also quoted a source who said that Khuri could be dropping a lot of money into internet marketing to build positive searches around his name, as was evident by the flood of articles on the web dated from late 2020 to early 2021. He has also allegedly spent money cleaning up on the internet so that nothing about this accident pops up in relation to his name. His behavior suggests an attempt to brush something under the rug.
After the incident, Khuri posted an apology on Instagram: “I am aware that the time it is taking me to communicate this has caused further pain for everyone affected,” wrote Khuri. “Knowing that this will never do justice for the family of Monique Munoz, I want to apologize to the Munoz family for the tragic loss of their daughter... Still, I want to offer my support in any way you will allow me to. My family and I pray for the Munoz family."
The Los Angeles Police Department has recommended negligent vehicular manslaughter charges against the Beverly Hills teen, Brendan, over the February 17 crash. Charges have not yet been filed because the accused is a minor and the decision will be made by the District Attorney’s office, according to police.
An LAPD detective said they are also investigating social media posts."We've done a filing," Supervising Detective James Dickson of the LAPD's West Traffic department told DailyMail. "That filing was presented to the LA County Juvenile DA. The arrest charge was 192(c)(1), negligent vehicular manslaughter. I can't regurgitate what we found but based upon multiple witness statements that corroborate one another, it's clear that there was gross negligence." Dickson said that the Lamborghini was racing with an Audi, which was also present at the scene but was not involved in the crash. "We believe that that vehicle was potentially engaged in a speed contest with the Lamborghini. That's a separate investigation and that's ongoing so I'm not willing to comment at the moment, but we do believe that it was involved," he said. Dickson said that "from evidence recovered and eyewitness accounts the vehicle was being operated at an unsafe speed".
In December 2020, under a picture of a Lamborghini race car on an LA street, Khuri wrote, "Fun Friday afternoon racing another Lamborghini SVJ on Sunset. Of course going the speed limit." Those posts have since been deleted.
Lawyer for the Khuri family, criminal defense attorney Mark Werksman, in a statement to DailyMail, said: "The Khuri family is devastated by the tragic accident on February 17, 2021, that caused the death of Monique Munoz. Their hearts go out to the Munoz family for their incomparable loss. Lawyers for the Khuri family and the Munoz family have worked out a financial settlement in order to allow the families to heal, and they are in the process of finalizing those details. They ask for privacy during this sad and traumatic time. And while I will not discuss the details of the case or the factual allegations with you, I can tell you that there was no racing going on with any other vehicle at the time of the crash. The allegation that there was racing going on at the time of impact if simply false."
Celeb Magazine also reported that Khuri also has a criminal record, as he previously got arrested in 2019 on charges of domestic violence with inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or co-inhabitant. Meanwhile, Khuri could be looking to tidy up his family’s reputation.
Change.Org has also started a petition against the Khuris, with the title, "James Khuri’s son needs to be arrested and held accountable for murder." 2,414 people have already signed it and the aim is to get 2,500.
These remarks were made by third person and individual organizations, MEAWW cannot confirm them independently nor does it support these claims. The respective references are linked in the article