Kobe Bryant's widow granted $16m over release of graphic images of crash

KARACHI: The US basketball player Kobe Bryant and his daughter died in a helicopter crash in 2020, and their widow has been granted $16 million in damages due to the release of graphic images of the accident.

After learning that photographs taken by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and firefighters had been distributed, Vanessa Bryant claimed to have experienced panic attacks.

According to a federal jury, the county must compensate Mrs. Bryant for her emotional anguish.

Christopher Chester, a co-plaintiff, will receive $15 million.

In January 2020, a helicopter carrying Mrs. Bryant's husband Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and six family friends crashed in California. In the collision, Mr. Chester lost his wife, Sarah, and daughter, Payton.

The families of the dead are furious over a Los Angeles Times revelation that county personnel took photos at the crash site and shared them with others.

The county agreed to pay $2.5 million in November of last year for the emotional suffering of two families who lost loved ones in the disaster experienced, but Mrs. Bryant refused to accept the settlement.

Mrs. Bryant, who broke down in tears last week while testifying, recalled reading the LA Times article while spending time with her other children at home.

"I bolted out of the house and I ran to the side of the house so the girls couldn't see me. I wanted to run… down the block and just scream," she said.

"I don't ever want to see these photographs. I want to remember my husband and my daughter the way they were."

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