Vanessa Bryant Says There's a 'Cover up' in Lawsuit Over Helicopter Crash Photos

Vanessa Bryant says evidence was improperly destroyed in her lawsuit against Los Angeles County. According to PEOPLE, Bryant filed a motion that claimed the leaked photos of the January 2020 helicopter crash that killed her husband, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna were deleted in a "cover up" by the county. Vanessa says that Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva "ordered department personnel" to delete the photos "after the department received a citizen's complaint that a Sheriff's deputy was showing photos of the crash site at a bar." 

"The Sheriff's Department and Fire Department took affirmative steps to destroy evidence that would enable Plaintiffs to discover the full scope of their misconduct," the filing states. "By destroying evidence instead of preserving it to conduct a proper investigation, Defendants have prevented Plaintiffs from discovering how many other people saw graphic photos of their loved ones' dead bodies."  

If the judge grants Vanessa's motion, jurors in the case would be required to assume the photos were widely shared because the evidence was destroyed. "While the County continues to have the deepest sympathy for the grief Ms. Bryant has suffered, the request by her lawyers for sanctions is an attempt to distract attention from the fact that none of the routine investigative photos taken by County employees have ever been publicly disseminated," Skip Miller, counsel for Los Angeles County, told PEOPLE.

A legal complaint was filed by Vanessa last year against Los Angeles County, as well as its sheriff's offices and fire department. Last month, Vanessa talked about the case in a pretrial deposition and said, "The impact of the helicopter crash was so damaging, I just don't understand how someone can have no regard for life and compassion, and, instead, choose to take that opportunity to photograph lifeless and helpless individuals for their own sick amusement."

Vanessa also talked about how she learned about the deaths of Kobe and Gianna. She said that an assistant knocked on her door "and told me that there was an accident and that there were five survivors. And I asked her if Gianna and Kobe were OK. And she said she wasn't sure." Vanessa then received "RIP Kobe" messages on her phone. She tried to fly to the crash site but couldn't because of the weather. It was Villanueva that told her that Kobe and Gianna died in the crash.