The heartbroken dad and mom of a California highschool tennis star have filed a wrongful dying lawsuit in opposition to the alleged drunk driver who fatally hit him whereas he was out for a late-night stroll with mates.
Braun Levi, 18, was strolling with a good friend down a boulevard in Manhattan Seaside 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 an area hospital, the place he was pronounced lifeless, only a month earlier than he was because of graduate from Loyola Excessive College.
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 response to courtroom 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 regarding Levi’s dying.
Now, after months of battling with their grief, Levi’s dad and mom have filed a wrongful dying lawsuit in opposition to Belt for $200 million in damages.
“Our household has made the choice to file a civil lawsuit in opposition to 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 achieve. It’s a choice grounded in accountability, prevention, reform, and the unwavering love now we have for Braun.”
Levi’s dad and mom mentioned the cash received within the lawsuit will go to the “Dwell Like Braun Basis” — a scholarship fund they based following their son’s dying that will even assist help public tennis facilities and lift consciousness concerning the risks of impaired driving.
The lawsuit claims Belt visited a bar in Hermosa Seaside 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, realizing from the outset that she should thereafter function a motorcar,” 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 prompted his dying.”
The lawsuit additional claims officers who arrived on the crash scene detected the odor of alcohol on the 33-year-old and she or he 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 courtroom data point out she confronted DUI expenses from a November 25, 2023, incident involving accidents, the LA Occasions reported.
Nonetheless, the DUI expenses 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 harm, the Westside Present reported.
Underneath the plea settlement, Belt’s driver’s license was reportedly suspended, and she or he acquired a one-year probation sentence.
The go well with claims that regardless of these prior incidents and finishing lessons on the risks of drunk driving, “[Belt] however willfully selected to function her car whereas severely intoxicated, in aware disregard for the security of others.”
Earlier than Levi’s life was reduce quick, 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 dropping their house within the wildfires that devastated huge swaths of Los Angeles in January.
