Vanessa Bryant is “devastated” following reports that deputies shared graphic photos of the helicopter crash scene where her husband Kobe Bryant, their daughter Gianna Bryant, and seven others were killed.
Vanessa’s lawyer Gary Robb released a statement saying that she went to the sheriff’s office on the day of the crash “and requested that the area be designated a no-fly zone and protected from photographers.”
“This was of critical importance to her as she desired to protect the dignity of all the victims, and their families,” the statement continued. “At that time, Sheriff Alex Villanueva assured us all measures would be put in place to protect the families’ privacy, and it is our understanding that he has worked hard to honor those requests.”
Robb said the sharing of photos is “an unspeakable violation of human decency, respect, and of the privacy rights of the victims and their families.”
He also called for those who shared the photos to “face the harshest possible discipline, and that their identities be brought to light, to ensure that the photos are not further disseminated.”
The statement also says that Vanessa is grateful to the individual who filed the online complaint that exposed this act of injustice.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the photos taken were of the crash site and included some of the victims’ remains. At least one deputy had the photos in his cell phone and was showing them “in a setting that had nothing to do with the investigation,” according to the report.
Allegedly, one of the deputies showed the photos off to a girl he was trying impress at a local bar. “He tried to impress a girl by showing her the photos,” a source told TMZ. The bartender overheard his conversation and filed an online complaint with the Sheriff’s Department. The photos were reportedly also passed around the Lost Hills Sheriff’s substation, the first responders to the crash.
Read the full statement from Vanessa’s lawyer below.