FCA Chrysler has wired the funds to pay the $40 million judgment for the family of 4-year-old Remi Walden, who was killed while riding in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, their attorneys and the company said Monday.

The total amount with interest: $47,045,342.46, according to lead plaintiffs counsel James “Jim” Butler Jr. of Butler Wooten & Peak in Atlanta and Columbus.

The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously upheld the award March 15 for the family of the boy who died when a Jeep burst into flames after it was hit from behind. The Jeep's rear-mounted gas tank was the target of the parents' lawsuit.

Chrysler indicated an interest in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take a look. “FCA US is disappointed in this decision. We are considering our legal options,” a corporate spokesman said by email March 16. But Chrysler let the March 26 deadline pass for filing a motion to reconsider, the first step in an appeal.

Following a nine-day trial in Bainbridge, the jury awarded the boy's parents $120 million for wrongful death and $30 million for the child's pain and suffering. The verdict apportioned 1 percent of the fault to the other driver and 99 percent to Chrysler. The company filed a motion for a new trial, which Judge Kevin Chason denied on the condition that the parents accept a lower wrongful death award of $30 million and a pain and suffering award of $10 million, which they did. Chrysler then appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals, but the state's intermediate appellate court upheld the trial court's judgment, as the high court ultimately did as well.

“Remi's family and their lawyers want to most of all thank all the judges and justices who spent so much effort on their case,” Butler said Monday. “Justice is sometimes elusive; this time justice was done.”

Butler tried the case with his son, James “Jeb” Butler III of Butler Tobin. The Butler trial team also included: George Floyd of Bainbridge; former Secretary of State Cathy Cox, now dean of the Mercer University law school; David Rohwedder of Butler Wooten; and Beth Glen, senior paralegal at Butler Wooten. Michael Terry and Frank Lowrey of Bondurant Mixson & Elmore worked with the Butlers on the appeal.

Chrysler's lead appellate counsel on the case was Thomas Dupree Jr., a Washington, D.C.-based partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Dupree hung his oral argument for granting Chrysler a new trial on the company's objection to his opponent bringing up CEO Sergio Marchionne's $68 million-a-year compensation. Dupree complained to the Supreme Court in oral arguments last October that Butler wrote the CEO's pay on a “giant” board in front of the jury.

The Supreme Court opinion supported the trial judge and the Court of Appeals. “We cannot say that the prejudicial effect of the evidence so far outweighed its probative value that its admission was clear and obvious reversible error,” Justice Britt Grant wrote. Rather, she said, judges must determine whether compensation evidence is admissible.

FCA Chrysler's spokesman responded to an inquiry with an emailed statement Monday evening, to be attributed to the company.

“While this tragic accident was caused by a reckless pick-up truck driver who slammed into the rear of a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee at highway speed, FCA US has decided not to further litigate this case,” the company said. “This decision in no way reflects the company's agreement with the result of the litigation. In fact, the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee met or exceeded all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards at the time it was built, including the standard for fuel system integrity.”

FCA Chrysler added, “The company hopes the termination of this case can provide some measure of peace to the family of Remi Walden for their tragic loss.”

But Jeb Butler said the company is wrong in that hope.

“If FCA thinks it has bought 'peace,' it is sorely mistaken,” the younger Butler said Monday evening by email. “For Remi's parents, there can never be peace. For the consciences of FCA's executives, there should never be peace. For FCA, there will never be peace until it buys back and destroys every rear-tank Jeep still on the road today.”

The case is Chrysler v. Walden, No. S17G0832.