A deposition for a lawsuit filed by Vanessa Bryant against Los Angeles County for improperly sharing photos from the crash scene revealed how she learned of the deaths of her husband Kobe and daughter Gianna.
The New York Times recently obtained a written copy of a deposition that took place on October 12, which revealed that Vanessa was first told by a family assistant that there had been an accident. However, she was told that there were survivors, and Gianna and Kobe's status was unknown.
After trying unsuccessfully to reach Kobe on his phone, Vanessa added, "As soon as I was on the phone with my mom, I was holding onto my phone, because obviously I was trying to call my husband back, and all these notifications started popping up on my phone, saying 'RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe.'"
Vanessa continued telling the story of the day of the accident, adding that she told her daughter Natalia, who she was picking up from an ACT prep class, that her father and sister had been in an accident. Vanessa said that she tried calling the L.A. County Sheriff's office several times, adding that she was "getting frustrated because I didn’t know — no one was answering my question. No one was telling me whether or not they were okay."
During the deposition, Vanessa spoke about the pain from the photos of her husband and daughter's deaths being shared by sheriff's department and fire department members. She stated, "I don't think it's fair that I'm here today having to fight for accountability. Because no one should ever have to endure this type of pain and fear of their family members. The pictures getting released, this is not okay."
The photos were shown during the deposition as defense attorney Louis Miller asked Vanessa to look at several photos that her attorneys had submitted as evidence. However, Vanessa refused to look at them, stating, "I don't want to look at this. This is terrible."
Source: New York Times
