It’s been eight months since Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant lost their lives in a helicopter crash that shocked the world and now, mom and wife, Vanessa Bryant is suing the L.A. Sheriff’s department! As it turns out, she is accusing them of taking pictures of the crash that have caused her further trauma.
It’s safe to say that while the whole world was greatly affected by the tragic news, the one suffering the most is none other than Vanessa Bryant, who lost not only her beloved husband but also her 13 year old daughter in that terrible crash.
That being said, what added to her already painful devastation even more was the fact that the Los Angeles County sheriff’s department took and shared unauthorized photos of the crash site and so, she has decided to sue them for causing ‘severe emotional distress’ as per the documents first obtained by HollywoodLife.
In the documents, Vanessa states that ‘no fewer than 8 sheriff’s deputies at the crash site pulled out their personal phones and took photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches.’
She goes on to stress that the pics were taken purely for the deputies’ ‘own personal gratification. The gratuitous images soon became talked about within the department, as deputies displayed them to colleagues in settings which had nothing to do with investigating the accident. One deputy even used his photos of the victims to try to impress a woman at the bar, bragging about how he had been at the crash site.’
But that was not even all! When a Los Angeles Times report managed to get these photos, Vanessa contacted the Sheriff’s Department to inquire whether she should ‘brace for the pictures of her loved ones’ remains to surface on the internet’ or not.
According to her, they responded that due to the ‘unusual circumstances’ they needed more time to respond before coming back to her via a letter in which they concluded that they were ‘unable to assist with any of the inquiries and had no legal obligating to do so.’
Vanessa is also accusing Sheriff Alex Villanueva of a cover-up attempt since he apparently told his deputies that if they deleted the pictures they would not face any punishment.
Among other things, Vanessa Bryant’s lawsuit claims that the unauthorized pictured have caused her ‘severe emotional distress and compounded the trauma of losing Kobe and Gianna’ and that she feels ‘ill at the thought of strangers gawking at images of her deceased husband and child, and she lives in fear she or her children will one day confront those horrific images of their loved ones online.’