The parents of late model and Playboy casting associate Kimberly Fattorini are continuing their legal fight over a $4 million wrongful-death judgment after one of the defendants filed a post-trial motion seeking to overturn the jury’s verdict. The latest court docket shows nightclub promoter Elias Wehbe filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on October 29, 2026, weeks after a Los Angeles judge entered judgment against him and three co-defendants, including former NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman.
What The Latest Court Filing Says
According to the publicly indexed docket for DeAnn Fattorini and Ferdinand Fattorini v. Shawne Merriman et al., case number 19STCV25769, Wehbe filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on October 29. The legal request asks the court to enter a different judgment despite the jury’s verdict, generally on the argument that the evidence or law does not support the verdict as entered. It is not simply a request to negotiate a smaller settlement, and it does not automatically suspend or erase the existing judgment.
The filing is a post-trial challenge by Wehbe. The docket does not identify it as a motion filed by Merriman, and the available entry does not establish that the $4 million award has been reduced. A hearing on the motion is listed for December 4, 2026, at the Santa Monica Courthouse.
Fattorini’s Parents Seek Prejudgment Interest
The same docket records a separate amended motion filed by Kimberly’s parents, DeAnn and Ferdinand Fattorini, on October 29, seeking prejudgment interest against Merriman, Wehbe and the other individual defendants. The filing indicates that the family is pursuing additional sums connected to the judgment rather than accepting a lower figure.
The court has scheduled the prejudgment-interest motion for December 4. The two applications are distinct: Wehbe is asking the court to revisit the jury’s verdict, while the parents are asking the court to address interest associated with the award. The court’s eventual rulings will determine how these post-trial issues affect the amount and enforcement of the judgment.
How The $4 Million Judgment Was Entered
A Los Angeles judge entered judgment on October 5, 2026, awarding the Fattorinis $4 million against Merriman, J.P. Castro, Monica Maass and Wehbe, jointly and severally, according to the docket summary. The entry specifies an important limitation: Wehbe’s liability is capped at $3.96 million of the $4 million award. The court entered judgments in favour of several nightclub-related defendants, including The Highlight Room, Tao Group entities and The Warwick, meaning those businesses were not ordered to pay the family damages in this judgment.
The judgment followed a jury trial in 2025. The family had filed its wrongful-death lawsuit in 2019, seeking accountability over the circumstances surrounding Kimberly’s death in July 2017.
Who Was Kimberly Fattorini?
Fattorini was 30 when she died on July 21, 2017. She worked as a casting associate for Playboy and had also undertaken modelling work. She was found unresponsive at a West Hollywood apartment after a night out in Los Angeles.
The medical examiner attributed her death to the combined effects of alcohol, cocaine and gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), and classified it as accidental. Her parents’ civil lawsuit alleged that she had been given GHB without her consent and raised questions about the events leading up to her death and the response when she became unresponsive. Those allegations were disputed by Merriman, who has denied wrongdoing.
Merriman Has Denied Wrongdoing
Merriman, who played for the San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills during his NFL career, previously rejected the allegations. A representative described the lawsuit as baseless and said police had investigated the incident without finding evidence of wrongdoing by him. No criminal charges were reported in connection with the case.
The distinction between the civil proceedings and criminal law is important. The $4 million award is a civil judgment arising from the family’s lawsuit; it is not a criminal conviction. The medical examiner’s accidental-death classification also does not, by itself, resolve the separate question of civil responsibility.
HeadlinesXtra Analysis: The Judgment Is Not Yet The Final Word
The latest filings show that the dispute has moved beyond the jury’s verdict and into a consequential post-trial phase. A motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict can potentially alter the legal outcome if the judge grants it, but filing the motion is not proof that the defendant’s arguments will succeed. Until the court rules, the October 5 judgment remains the operative judgment reflected in the docket.
The parents’ request for prejudgment interest adds another dimension. If granted, it could increase the amount recoverable beyond the principal damages, subject to the court’s calculation and the applicable law. The two December 4 hearings therefore matter to both sides: one concerns the effort to overturn the verdict, while the other concerns the financial consequences of the award.
For now, it would be inaccurate to report that the $4 million judgment has already been reduced or overturned. The public docket confirms the filings and hearing dates, but the full arguments in the motion papers and the court’s eventual decisions should be examined before drawing conclusions about the final amount payable.
What Happens Next?
The next major date is December 4, 2026, when the court is scheduled to hear Wehbe’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and the Fattorinis’ motion for prejudgment interest. The court may grant or deny either request, issue a ruling later, or make further procedural orders. Any appeal or enforcement proceedings would depend on the rulings and subsequent filings.
Sources And Further Reading
- Trellis – Publicly indexed docket for Fattorini v. Merriman, Case No. 19STCV25769
- TMZ – Report on the $4 million wrongful-death judgment, October 19, 2026
- Yahoo Sports – Report on the judgment against four defendants
- U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, Ninth Circuit – In re Merriman, July 2020
- Wikimedia Commons – Shawne Merriman photograph (CC BY 2.0)
Editorial note: This report distinguishes allegations, the medical examiner’s findings, the jury’s civil verdict, the entered judgment and the pending post-trial motions. The docket summary is publicly indexed; the full October 29 motion papers and the court’s December 4 rulings should be consulted for the complete arguments and outcome. This article is for news reporting and is not legal advice.