Nia Simone Scott — who was 2 years, 9 months old at the time — testified during the trial that the gorilla, named Little Joe, hit her with his claws and dragged her. She said she was too afraid to run because she thought the gorilla would chase after her.

Nia's mother, Terrasita Duarte-Scott, said her now 6-year-old daughter received permanent scars and still has nightmares over the September 2003 attack. Duarte-Scott sued Zoo New England and five top zoo officials for her daughter and herself, seeking money for physical and emotional damages.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury awarded $175,000 to Nia, but no money to her mother. The jury did not find the zoo, the gorilla's handlers or its management officials negligent, but did find they were liable for the girl's injuries.

"We are pleased that the jury found the individual defendants and officers of the zoo to be not negligent," said Kevin Kenneally, a lawyer for Zoo New England, which operates the Franklin Park Zoo and a zoo in Stoneham. "The entire zoo community was saddened that Nia was injured, and we wish her and her wonderful family well."

Duarte-Scott's attorney did not immediately return a telephone call for comment.

"They did what they thought was fair, but I'm speechless. Just speechless," Duarte-Scott told The Boston Globe. "What I wanted to do was prove that they were negligent."

In the lawsuit, Duarte-Scott said that zoo officials did not do enough to make sure the gorilla's enclosure was secure. Little Joe had already escaped once, about a month before he attacked Nia and Courtney Roberson, a family friend.