Kobe Bryant’s passing completely rocked the NBA community. In a shocking and heartbreaking accident, Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, became one of seven victims of a fatal helicopter crash in Southern California a few years back.
As the NBA community continues to remember and celebrate the life and career of Kobe, his now widowed wife is fighting a battle in court over the handling of the crash photos that were taken by first responders.
Some more details on the incident were recently revealed to the public, and the latest update accuses one L.A. County Firefighter of sharing the pics, and commenting on them, during cocktail hour at an event.
“Photos taken at the scene of the fatal helicopter crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others were shared by a Los Angeles County firefighter during the cocktail hour at an awards ceremony a month after the crash, according to witness testimony,” wrote CNN. “On Wednesday, the trial was launched for a federal civil lawsuit filed by Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, who claims that photos from the January 2020 crash were shared by county fire and sheriff’s department employees in settings irrelevant to the investigation, including at a bar.
“Former emergency medical technician and wife of a Los Angeles firefighter, Luella Weireter, testified in court on Friday that during the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California’s Golden Mike awards in February 2020, she saw LA County firefighter Tony Imbrenda share photos of Bryant’s remains and other images from the crash site with ceremony attendees.
The first responder in question could not have done anything to change the outcome of the crash, but they could have shown some more sensitivity to the topic at hand.
While Kobe was a major celebrity, he still has a family who deserves respect in the whole process.
“Many firefighters attended the media event, which was also honoring fire department public information officers for their work informing the public about wildfires.
“After a small group of people at her table convened to look at images on a cell phone, in what Weireter characterized as being like a party trick, she testified about seeing one firefighter break away from the group, saying, ‘I can’t believe I just looked at Kobe’s burnt up body, and now I’m about to eat.’”
It’s an unfortunate circumstance for the Bryant family. Instead of mourning Kobe and Gigi’s passing in peace, they are having to deal with all the dramatics of a court case.
The bottom line is that crash photos are probably not a good thing to share publicly, especially if you’re going to make comments about it during the middle of an event.
