The heartbroken dad and mom of a California highschool tennis star have filed a wrongful dying lawsuit towards the alleged drunk driver who fatally hit him whereas he was out for a late-night stroll with associates.
Braun Levi, 18, was strolling with a buddy down a boulevard in Manhattan Seashore at round 1 a.m. on Could 4 when an Infiniti FX35 allegedly pushed by 33-year-old Jenia Resha Belt plowed into the teenager and killed him.
Levi was rushed to a neighborhood hospital, the place he was pronounced useless, only a month earlier than he was on account of graduate from Loyola Excessive Faculty.
Belt — who was driving with a suspended license following a previous DUI arrest — had a blood alcohol stage almost two occasions the authorized restrict on the time of the crash, in keeping with court docket data obtained by the Los Angeles Occasions.
Authorities arrested the alleged drunk driver on the scene, however after being launched on June 4, Belt has but to be formally charged with against the law referring to Levi’s dying.
Now, after months of battling with their grief, Levi’s dad and mom have filed a wrongful dying lawsuit towards Belt for $200 million in damages.
“Our household has made the choice to file a civil lawsuit towards the person answerable for taking Braun’s life,” the teenager’s mom, Jennifer Levi, mentioned.
“This isn’t a call rooted in anger, vengeance, or monetary acquire. It’s a determination grounded in accountability, prevention, reform, and the unwavering love now we have for Braun.”
Levi’s dad and mom mentioned the cash gained within the lawsuit will go to the “Reside Like Braun Basis” — a scholarship fund they based following their son’s dying that will even assist help public tennis facilities and lift consciousness in regards to the risks of impaired driving.
The lawsuit claims Belt visited a bar in Hermosa Seashore and consumed “extreme portions of alcohol” earlier than driving.
“Defendant Belt voluntarily commenced and thereafter continued to eat alcoholic drinks to the purpose of intoxication, understanding from the outset that she should thereafter function a motorized vehicle,” the wrongful dying lawsuit claims.
Belt then allegedly “willfully selected to function the car whereas intoxicated and at an unsafe, extreme pace,” putting Levi and inflicting “extreme bodily and head accidents that in the end induced his dying.”
The lawsuit additional claims officers who arrived on the crash scene detected the odor of alcohol on the 33-year-old and he or she allegedly admitted to consuming earlier than the deadly crash.
The go well with additionally states she was a “repeat offender drunk driver,” with a previous arrest and prosecution for DUI involving an damage collision.
LA County court docket data point out she confronted DUI fees from a November 25, 2023, incident involving accidents, the LA Occasions reported.
Nonetheless, the DUI fees had been dropped as a part of a September 2024 plea deal, with Belt pleading no contest to a misdemeanor rely of hit-and-run with property injury, the Westside Present reported.
Beneath the plea settlement, Belt’s driver’s license was reportedly suspended, and he or she acquired a one-year probation sentence.
The go well with claims that regardless of these prior incidents and finishing courses on the hazards of drunk driving, “[Belt] nonetheless willfully selected to function her car whereas severely intoxicated, in acutely aware disregard for the protection of others.”
Earlier than Levi’s life was lower brief, he was gearing as much as play tennis on the College of Virginia following his commencement from highschool.
He was additionally killed simply months after his household relocated to the world after shedding their dwelling within the wildfires that devastated huge swaths of Los Angeles in January.
