LOS ANGELES (AP) – Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s widow, released the names of four Los Angeles County police officers Wednesday who allegedly shared explicit photos from the scene of the helicopter crash in which her husband died. his daughter Gianna and seven other people.
In a series of posts on Instagram, Bryant showed parts of his lawsuit, which was modified to include the names of agents Joey Cruz, Rafael Mejia, Michael Russell and Raul Versales. The lawsuit alleges that Cruz shared photos of Kobe Bryant’s body with a waiter and that the others forwarded “free photos of dead children, parents and coaches.”
None of the police officers were directly involved in the investigation of the incident, nor did they have any legitimate reason to take or share the lurid images, the complaint states.
“We will refrain from judging this case in the media and wait for the right place,” tweeted Police Chief Alex Villanueva. “Our hearts go out to all the families affected by this tragedy.”
Kobe Bryant and his companions died on January 26, 2020 when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed west of Los Angeles, in the Calabasas hills.
The Los Angeles Times later reported that an internal department investigation found that officers shared photos of the victims’ mortal remains. Vanessa Bryant sued the county and police department claiming damages for negligence and invasion of privacy.
A judge last week rejected the attempt to keep the officers anonymous, allowing Bryant to incorporate their names and details from the internal affairs investigation into his lawsuit.
In the complaint, Bryant alleges that according to that investigation, an agent took between 25 and 100 photos with his personal cell phone that had no value for the investigation. The document maintains that at least eight other agents did the same.
