Former NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman has been ordered to pay $4 million in Kimberly Fattorini’s wrongful death lawsuit. (Photo: Instagram)
Selected in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft, he made an immediate impact and won Defensive Rookie of the Year in his first season. Merriman played eight seasons in the National Football League, including six with the San Diego Chargers and two with the Buffalo Bills.
Former NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman has been ordered to pay $4 million to the family of Kimberly Fattorini, a Playboy casting associate who died of an accidental overdose in 2017. A jury had found the four defendants liable in 2025, with the latest ruling determining the payment to Fattorini’s family.
A Los Angeles judge issued the order in early October against Merriman and three other defendants – J.P, according to a report by TMZ Sports. Fattorini had sent a text message to a club promoter claiming that a friend of Merriman’s had put GHB in her drink, according to the lawsuit. His lawyer told TMZ Sports that the claims were “baseless” and said a police investigation had found no evidence of culpability.
The payment follows a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Fattorini’s parents, who accused the former football player of drugging and sexually assaulting their daughter before her death. Merriman has denied the allegations. Castro, Monica Maass and Elias Wehbe. GHB is a substance commonly associated with drug-facilitated sexual assault.