Tesla ordered to pay eye-popping settlement over deadly Autopilot crash

New York, New York - A Florida jury on Friday ordered Tesla to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to plaintiffs who blamed a deadly 2019 crash on the company's "Autopilot" driver assistance technology.

Tesla has been ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to plaintiffs who blamed a deadly 2019 crash on the company's "Autopilot" technology. © Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

The jury found Tesla's system partly responsible for a crash in Key Largo that killed Naibel Benavides Leon and injured her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, according to attorney Darren Jeffrey Rousso, a partner at the law firm that represented Angulo and Leon's family.

The plaintiffs had alleged that Autopilot was to blame when driver George McGee's Tesla careened into a Chevrolet sport utility vehicle, killing Leon and injuring Angulo.

The jury awarded $200 million in punitive damages, plus $59 million in compensatory damages to Leon's family and $70 million in damages to Angulo, according to court records.

Since the jury assigned one-third of the blame to Tesla, the compensatory damages will be reduced, Rousso said, with the total impact of the jury award totalling $242 million after these reductions.

"Justice was done," Rousso said. "The jury heard all the evidence and came up with a fair and just verdict on behalf of our clients."

Tesla will appeal the decision, according to its defense attorneys.

"Today's verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Tesla's and the entire industry's efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology," Tesla said through its legal team.

The jury has ordered Tesla to pay $329 million in total damages despite the fact that the driver admitted he was distracted by his cell phone. He dropped his phone and was fishing for it, taking his attention off Autopilot.

Tesla specifically states: "Active safety features are… https://t.co/Nu2V8MUdxz pic.twitter.com/zkAs16d3Lh

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 1, 2025

"The evidence has always shown that this driver was solely at fault because he was speeding, with his foot on the accelerator – which overrode Autopilot – as he rummaged for his dropped phone without his eyes on the road," Tesla said.

"To be clear, no car in 2019, and none today, would have prevented this crash. This was never about Autopilot."