The widow of the late NBA star, Kobe Bryant, testified this Friday before a court for the lawsuit that has been initiated against Los Angeles County, this after allegedly workers and first responders distributed images of the helicopter accident in which her husband and 13-year-old daughter Gianna lost their lives.
Vanessa Bryant filed a lawsuit against the authorities after sensitive images of Kobe and Gianna’s bodies were released after the accident, she said during her emotional testimony in the first week of the trial, in which she recounted the suffering she and her daughters have lived after the unexpected death of their loved ones.
For three hours in court, the basketball player’s widow expressed the deep pain she felt upon discovering that the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and other people from the emergency team took and shared photos of Kobe and Gianna, in addition to the other seven victims. of the tragedy that occurred in January 2020, after the aircraft crashed in California while they were on their way to a basketball game.
“I want to remember my husband and daughter the way they always were,” Vanessa said, her voice breaking. “I don’t want to see these pictures. I have three little daughters!” referring to Capri, 3, Bianka, 5, and Natalia, 19.
Vanessa Bryant raises her voice
Thus began Vanessa Bryant’s civil lawsuit trial against Los Angeles County, which closed its first week amid revelations, tears, and accusations of negligence and invasion of privacy.
It all started when in September 2021 the Los Angeles Times reported that county employees took photos at the accident site and shared them, news that not only angered the family of the former Los Lakers player, but also the relatives of the other victims who were on board.
In her statement, Vanessa recalled visiting the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Office the morning of the crash and pleading with Officer Alex Villanueva to please protect the crash area from onlookers. However, three days later she discovered that the photos that she did not want to never exist had been released.
The athlete’s widow then accused the emergency personnel of having photographed Gianna’s lifeless body “taking advantage of the fact that her father was not there to protect her,” she said, because “he was already in the morgue.” It should be remembered that Kobe’s lifeless body appeared the same day of the accident, while that of her teenage daughter was found until the next day in a ravine.
Vanessa explained that when she found out she had a “panic attack”, because she was afraid that with the publication of the images, one day her daughters could see them.
The lawsuit filed by the late player’s wife was also joined by Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter also died in the accident. Chester claimed to feel concerned and distressed that these photographs could be leaked on social networks, so he has joined Vanessa’s complaint
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