PORTLAND, Maine — Editor's note: The video above aired Dec. 16, 2021.
An attorney for Ayla Reynolds' father on Friday filed a motion opposing a request by Trista Reynolds to expand her wrongful death lawsuit.
Trista Reynolds, the mother of the toddler who went missing in 2011 and was declared legally dead in 2017, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro, in 2018.
On Feb. 18, Trista Reynolds asked a court to expand that lawsuit to include DiPietro's mother, Phoebe DiPietro, and sister, Elisha DiPietro, and added additional charges against DiPietro.
Her attorney said an expert found new evidence suggesting Justin DiPietro, Phoebe DiPietro, and/or Elisha DiPietro planned or assisted in cleaning up the child's blood throughout Phoebe DiPietro's home the night of Ayla's death in order to hide her death from investigators.
But in documents filed Friday, DePietro's attorney Michael Waxman argued that Trista Reynolds' claims have no merit and that the statute of limitations has passed.
The case against DiPietro, who now lives in Los Angeles, "has been ongoing for over three years and has drained Defendant's time, energy, and resources," Waxman wrote.
Nobody has ever been criminally charged in connection to the case.