Vanessa Bryant filed a lawsuit last Thursday against Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva over “gratuitous” photos that sheriff’s deputies allegedly took at the site of the January helicopter crash that claimed the lives of nine people, including Kobe and Gianna Bryant.
The widowed mother cites negligence, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress,. Bryant’s lawsuit states that in the immediate aftermath of the helicopter crash; at least eight sheriff’s deputies at the scene used their phones to take personal photos of the victims. Three of those victims were children.
The filing adds that one of the deputies later showed the photos from the Bryant helicopter crash to a woman at a bar. A bartender who overheard the conversation alerted the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
However, according to the lawsuit, the Sheriff did not follow LASD protocol. Instead told the deputies involved that if they deleted the images, which they did not take for official purposes; he wouldn’t discipline them.
“The Sheriff’s Department’s outrageous actions have caused Mrs. Bryant severe emotional distress and compounded the trauma of losing Kobe and Gianna,” the lawsuit states.
“Mrs. Bryant feels ill at the thought of strangers gawking at photos of her deceased husband and child. She lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online.”
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Kobe Bryant, 41, and Gianna Bryant, 13, were on their way to a basketball game with six others when their helicopter crashed on Jan. 26. Everyone onboard, including the pilot, was killed.