Vanessa Bryant files legal claim over Kobe Bryant helicopter crash photos

Vanessa Bryant is taking legal action over the release of unauthorized photos of Kobe Bryant‘s fatal helicopter crash taken by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Vanessa, 38, filed a legal claim on Friday that seeks for emotional distress and mental anguish damages after eight L.A. County Sheriff’s Department deputies took graphic photos of her …

Vanessa Bryant is taking legal action over the release of unauthorized photos of Kobe Bryant‘s fatal helicopter crash taken by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Vanessa, 38, filed a legal claim on Friday that seeks for emotional distress and mental anguish damages after eight L.A. County Sheriff’s Department deputies took graphic photos of her husband’s crash scene and shared them with unauthorized people, per court documents obtained by People.

She claimed that the photos were taken and distributed even after she spoke to Sheriff Alex Villanueva on the morning of the crash to request that they handle the crash site with privacy in mind.

“In reality, however, no fewer than eight sheriff’s deputies were at the scene snapping cell-phone photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches,” her court papers stated. “As the Department would later admit, there was no investigative purpose for deputies to take pictures at the crash site. Rather, the deputies took photos for their own personal purposes.”

Vanessa claimed that she only learned about the photos through various news outlets almost a month later when the department became aware that they were taken and mishandled.

She also stated in her court documents that she is now worried that she or her three daughters, Natalia, Bianka or Capri may find these photos on the internet.

“This [filing] solely is about enforcing accountability, protecting the victims and making sure no one ever has to deal with this conduct in the future,” a spokesperson for the Bryant family told People in a statement. “When a family suffers the loss of loved ones, they have the right to expect that they will be treated with dignity and respect. The deputies in this case betrayed that sacred trust. This claim is intended to hold the Sheriff’s Department accountable and to prevent future misconduct.”

Page Six reported in March that Vanessa was “absolutely devastated” over the ordeal and wanted the deputies punished for their actions.

The NBA legend, 41, was flying with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others — Christina Mauser, Payton and Sarah Chester, John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli, and pilot Ara Zobayan — on January 26 when they crashed into a mountain.

Vanessa also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the helicopter company.

Vanessa’s attorney did not immediately get back to us.