Vanessa Bryant broke down in tears as she took to the stand, remembering the pictures that were taken of late husband Kobe Bryant and their daughter Gianna.
The NBA legend died on January 26, 2020, at the age of 41, alongside their 13-year-old daughter and seven others, following a fatal helicopter crash.
His widow, 40, filed a federal invasion of privacy lawsuit against the LA County Sheriff’s Department after a deputy and firefighter, who responded to the scene, allegedly leaked photos from the crash site.
According to the lawsuit, the deputy has been accused of showing photos of the athlete’s to people at a bar two days after he died, while the firefighter is said to have shown them to off-duty colleagues.
Speaking to the jury, Vanessa explained that she begged a sheriff at LA County to secure the area of the crash so that paparazzi couldn’t get close to it, but wasn’t told that deputies had already photographed the bodies of her husband and teenage daughter until she learned of the graphic pictures in the media.
‘I felt like I wanted to run down the block and scream,’ she reportedly said through sobs. ‘I can’t escape my body. I can’t escape what I feel.’
According to reports, she said that she was ‘blindsided, devastated, hurt and betrayed’ after details of the graphic pictures emerged, as she had ‘trusted’ officials not to do that.
‘I live in fear every day of seeing on social media and having these images pop up,’ she continued, via the New York Post.
‘I don’t ever want to see these photographs. I want to remember them as they were.’
Vanessa said that she expected officials to ‘have more compassion, respect’, insisting: ‘My husband and daughter deserved dignity.’
She added that those photographing teenage Gianna were ‘taking advantage of the fact that her daddy couldn’t protect her because he was at the morgue.
‘I don’t ever want to see my babies in that way.
‘Nobody should ever have to see their family in that way.’
Kobe and Gianna were passengers on a helicopter on route to a basketball tournament when it crashed in Calabasas, California, at the beginning of 2020.
The pair tragically died in the smash, with tributes pouring in from across the world.
Following the incident, close-up images of their bodies were reportedly shared around on at least 28 devices belonging to the sheriff’s department and at least 12 firefighters.
The gruesome images were also being shown to people in bars and at an awards gala.
Two other families whose loved ones died in the helicopter crash have filed lawsuits against the county, which has already agreed to pay out a $2.5million settlement.
The trial continues.
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