A Los Angeles jury awarded Kobe Bryant‘s widow, Vanessa Bryant, $16 million in her lawsuit against Los Angeles County on Wednesday. Now she plans to donate the $16 million to charity.
Bryant, 40, will donate her $16 million judgment to a foundation she controls that is named for her husband, Kobe, and daughter, Gianna.
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Bryant, 41, and Gianna, 14, died in a January 2020 helicopter crash along with seven others in Calabasas, California.
Vanessa Bryant’s attorney told the jury she suffered undue emotional stress after she discovered county personnel shared cellphone pictures of human remains as morbid “souvenirs.”
Another plaintiff, Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter died in the crash, was awarded $15 million by the same jury.
Vanessa sued after she discovered that Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies had shared graphic photos of the victims’ remains with others, including a woman in a local bar.
R&B singer Monica, 41, (right) accompanied Vanessa to court on what would have been Kobe’s 44th birthday.
According to Yahoo! Entertainment, the nonprofit Mamba and Mambacita Sports foundation offers sports education to underserved athletes. The foundation, founded in 2016, is named for the Lakers’ legend’s nickname, Black Mamba.
The charity was renamed in 2020 to honor both Kobe and the Bryants’ budding basketball star daughter, Gianna.
Vanessa Bryant’s attorney said she was giving her jury award to the foundation as a way to “to shine a light on Kobe and Gigi’s legacy,” according to The Los Angeles Times.
