Son of Victim Valerie Mack Files Landmark Wrongful Death Lawsuit

valerie_mack

VALERIE MACK

Rex Heuermann and His Past And Current Family members sued for Mack’s wrongful death

By SyndicatedNews True Crime | SNN.BZ

In a significant civil action tied to one of Long Island’s most notorious serial murder investigations, Benjamin Torres — the only child of Gilgo Beach victim Valerie Mack — has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against accused killer Rex Heuermann, his ex-wife Asa Ellerup, and their daughter Victoria Heuermann.

The suit, filed Monday in New York State Supreme Court in Suffolk County by prominent victims’ rights attorney John Ray, marks the first known litigation brought by a family member of any of the seven confirmed Gilgo Beach victims against the 62-year-old Massapequa Park man and his relatives.

Court documents allege that Heuermann tortured and murdered Valerie Mack sometime between September 1, 2000, and November 19, 2000. At the time of her death, Torres was just six years old. The complaint states that her killing deprived him of his mother’s care, guidance, protection, nurture, society, and economic support. It further seeks damages for “the wrongful torture and murder of Valerie Mack, for the terror, restraint, pain, mutilation, and dismemberment inflicted upon her before and after death, for the concealment and mutilation of her remains, and for the profound and prolonged harm thereby inflicted” upon her son.

The lawsuit levels multiple causes of action, including wrongful death, assault, battery, false imprisonment, aiding and abetting, civil conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, and unjust enrichment. It also accuses the Heuermann family of attempting to profit from the crimes through media deals and documentaries, seeking to recover any financial gains — including more than $1 million reportedly earned from a Peacock documentary — and to prevent the family from benefiting from the notoriety of the case.

Valerie Mack, whose remains were discovered in 2000 and 2011 along a remote stretch of Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach, was one of seven women whose deaths have been linked to Heuermann. Prosecutors have said DNA evidence, cellphone data, and items recovered from his home connect him to the murders of Mack, Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor, and Megan Waterman — all of whom disappeared between 1993 and 2011. Heuermann was arrested in July 2023 and has previously pleaded not guilty. Multiple law enforcement sources now report he is expected to enter a guilty plea to the seven murders in the coming days.

Attorney John Ray, who has represented families connected to the Gilgo investigation for years, described the civil filing as a necessary step to hold the accused and his family accountable. “They’re earning money by that callousness and by that disregard of the victims’ sensibilities,” Ray said of the Heuermann family’s reported media activities.

Robert Macedonio, attorney for Asa Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann, called the lawsuit “reckless” and an attempt by Ray to remain relevant in the case. He noted that Ray’s prior client, Shannan Gilbert, was not among the confirmed Gilgo victims.

The civil case proceeds independently of the criminal proceedings against Heuermann, who remains held at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead. Legal experts note that such wrongful death actions allow victims’ families to seek financial compensation even when criminal convictions are pending or resolved, and the filing appears to invoke exceptions to New York’s standard statute of limitations given Torres’s age at the time of the crime and the years required to identify his mother’s remains.

For Torres, now an adult, the lawsuit represents a public demand for justice and closure more than 25 years after his mother’s disappearance. As the Gilgo Beach case nears what may be its final chapter in criminal court, this civil action underscores the enduring pain inflicted on the victims’ families and their determination to pursue every avenue of accountability.

Here is a list of primary news sources reporting on the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Benjamin Torres against Rex Heuermann, Asa Ellerup, and Victoria Heuermann. Readers can click the links below to review the original articles and court details directly:

Additional background on the expected guilty plea (April 8 court date) comes from multiple outlets including NBC News, Newsday, and Fox News reports from late March 2026.

These sources contain court filing details, quotes from attorneys John Ray and Robert Macedonio, and context on the Gilgo Beach case. The article was compiled from publicly available reporting as of April 7, 2026.

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