The grieving wife of Kobe Bryant and mother of 13-year-old Gianna is suing the LA Sheriff’s Department after eight police officers took and posted photos of the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of the NBA star and their daughter.
Vanessa Bryant filed the claim, seeking damages for invasion of privacy, mental anguish and emotional distress after deputies shared graphic pictures of the incident.
Despite Bryant personally requesting Sheriff Alex Villanueva to ensure the site was secured for privacy, the claim states the deputies took pictures of the ‘dead children, parents, and coaches’ for their ‘own personal purposes.’
Two firefighters also allegedly took photos of the crash.
According to Sheriff Villanueva, only the National Transportation Safety Board investigators and county coroner’s office were allowed to take photos at the scene.
He said in March: “Anybody outside of that would be unauthorized. They’d be illicit photos.”
According to People magazine, the claim states: “In reality, however, no fewer than eight sheriff’s deputies were at the scene snapping cell-phone photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches.
“As the Department would later admit, there was no investigative purpose for deputies to take pictures at the crash site. Rather, the deputies took photos for their own personal purposes.”
One deputy was allegedly caught sharing the pictures with a woman.
“Upon information or belief, sheriff’s deputies shared photos of victims’ remains with individuals unaffiliated with the investigation for their own excitement and sense of self- importance, including one instance where a deputy shared photos to impress a woman at a bar,” says the filing.
The claim also states the actions of the deputies have ‘compounded’ Bryant’s ‘grief.’
It says: “Mrs. Bryant has suffered an immense tragedy by losing her husband and daughter; her grief has been compounded by the severe emotional distress caused by the sheriff’s deputies’ misconduct and the Sheriff’s Department’s mishandling of that misconduct.”
The claim states the department knew about the illicit pictures for almost a month but did not inform Bryant, who only discovered of their existence when news outlets reported about the scandal.
A spokesperson for the family said they wish to hold LA Sheriff’s Department to account and ensure other victims’ families do not have to go through the same ‘emotional distress.’
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Replaced!