‘AN UNHEALABLE WOUND’

Vanessa Bryant Awarded $16M Over Kobe Helicopter Crash Site Photos

Bryant’s co-plaintiff, Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter were also killed in the crash, was awarded $15 million.

A federal jury on Wednesday awarded Kobe Bryant’s widow $16 million after she filed a civil suit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff and Fire Departments, accusing its employees of taking graphic photos of the helicopter crash site where Kobe Bryant and eight others were killed. During the 11-day trial, Vanessa Bryant testified to her grief and devastation in the fallout of the crash, which also killed the Bryants’ 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. “I live in fear every day of being on social media and these popping up,” she said of the grim photos, which allegedly captured human remains. “I live in fear of my daughters being on social media and these popping up.” The nine-person jury deliberated for roughly three and a half hours. Bryant’s co-plaintiff, Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter also died aboard the helicopter, was awarded an additional $15 million. Their suit claimed that photographs of the bodies were publicly shared among at least 28 devices belonging to members of the county departments. “They poured salt into an unhealable wound and that’s why we’re all here today,” Bryant’s attorney, Luis Li, said Wednesday.