Federal Judge Beth Bloom upholds nearly 250 million dollar verdict against Tesla over fatal Autopilot crash that killed Naibel Benavides Leon in Key Largo Florida

It was supposed to be a quiet evening.

On April 25, 2019, 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, had pulled over near Key Largo to stargaze.

The couple parked along the roadside, unaware that within moments their lives would be shattered.

Driving toward the intersection was George McGee in his 2019 Tesla Model S.

He later admitted he had bent down to retrieve his phone.

The car barreled through a red light at close to 70 miles per hour.

Seconds later, it slammed into the parked vehicle.

Benavides Leon was thrown 75 feet and pronounced dead at the scene.

Angulo survived but with devastating injuries — multiple broken bones and a traumatic brain injury that, even years later, leaves him walking with a limp.

Autopilot at the Center of the Storm

McGee told authorities he believed his car’s Autopilot system would prevent a catastrophe.

He said he had activated the feature and assumed it would assist him if he made an error.

But court records revealed troubling details.

According to filings, the vehicle detected a stop sign, a stop bar, the road’s edge, a pedestrian, and even the parked Chevrolet Tahoe — yet it neither issued an audible warning nor engaged emergency braking.

After the crash, McGee called 911 in a panic. “Oh my God, I wasn’t looking,” he said.

“I dropped my phone.” He told officers he thought the vehicle’s technology would intervene.

Tesla’s Autopilot, despite its name, has long required drivers to remain attentive and keep their hands on the wheel.

The company has repeatedly said the feature is designed to assist, not replace, human drivers.

Still, critics argue that the branding and marketing have created dangerous misunderstandings.

The Lawsuit That Wouldn’t Go Away

Benavides Leon’s family sued both McGee and Tesla, Inc..

While McGee eventually reached a settlement in a separate civil suit, the claims against Tesla evolved into a landmark legal fight.

The case was consolidated with a criminal indictment in 2024 and moved to federal court before a jury.

Plaintiffs argued Tesla released software that was not fully tested for cross-traffic intersections and cited 56 alleged prior Autopilot-related incidents.

They claimed the company continued selling vehicles despite warnings from regulators and safety experts.

Tesla’s defense team countered that Autopilot does not shield drivers from reckless behavior.

Attorney Joel Smith told jurors the crash could have happened in any vehicle if a driver ran a red light while looking down at a phone.

“This is not about Autopilot,” he insisted.

A Jury Sends a Message

Last August, jurors sided with the victims’ families.

The verdict sent shockwaves through the auto industry — not only because of the tragedy itself, but because of the scale of the damages and what it signaled about accountability in the age of advanced driver-assistance systems.

Tesla sought a new trial, arguing there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove Autopilot caused the crash.

But on Friday, US District Judge Beth Bloom upheld the jury’s findings.

The award totaled nearly $250 million. Of that, $200 million will be divided between Angulo and Benavides Leon’s family.

An additional $19.47 million was granted to Benavides Leon’s family and another $19.47 million to Angulo individually.

Judge Bloom said the evidence presented at trial supported the jury’s conclusion that Tesla bore partial responsibility.

The ruling closes a years-long legal battle that has weighed heavily on a grieving family seeking accountability.

A Blow to the Self-Driving Dream

The verdict lands at a delicate time for Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, who has long championed autonomous driving as the future of transportation.

Musk has repeatedly promised that fully self-driving Teslas are just around the corner, and the company continues to roll out updates to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software.

Yet regulators have scrutinized the technology for years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has investigated multiple crashes involving Autopilot, particularly those where vehicles failed to recognize stationary emergency vehicles or obstacles at intersections.

This Florida case could set a powerful precedent.

Legal experts say it underscores a growing willingness by juries to hold automakers responsible when advanced driver-assistance systems fail — especially if marketing may have led drivers to overestimate the technology’s capabilities.

Wood Smith Henning Berman, the law firm representing Tesla, described the decision as one of the largest product liability verdicts ever handed down against an automaker in Florida.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the victims said the ruling affirms what they argued from the start: that Autopilot was not ready for complex real-world road conditions.

Angulo’s Long Road to Recovery

In an emotional interview with 60 Minutes last October, Angulo described the aftermath of the crash.

He recalled being unable to speak to paramedics and believing he might die from his injuries.

“I should’ve been dead,” he said.

He attended last year’s trial, walking into the courtroom with visible difficulty.

For him, the case was never just about money — it was about acknowledgment.

What’s Next?

Although Judge Bloom’s decision upholds the verdict, Tesla could still pursue an appeal.

Appeals in federal court can take months or even years, potentially prolonging the legal saga.

The ruling may also influence other pending cases involving driver-assistance systems.

As automakers race toward greater automation, courts are increasingly being asked to define where human responsibility ends and corporate liability begins.

Industry analysts expect companies to respond by tightening safety disclosures, refining software limitations, and perhaps reconsidering how autonomous features are marketed to consumers.

For regulators, the case adds urgency to ongoing discussions about national standards for semi-autonomous technology.

Summary

A federal judge has upheld a nearly $250 million jury award against Tesla following the 2019 Key Largo crash that killed Naibel Benavides Leon and severely injured Dillon Angulo.

Jurors found the company partially responsible, rejecting Tesla’s argument that driver distraction alone caused the tragedy.

The ruling marks one of the largest product liability verdicts against an automaker in Florida and poses fresh challenges to Tesla’s ambitious self-driving vision.