Kobe Bryant’s widow Vanessa share pic of their 10-month old daughter Koko one day after autopsy report was released
KOBE Bryant's widow Vanessa shared a new photo of their baby daughter a day after autopsy revealed how the NBA legend died in a helicopter smash.
Mom-of-four Vanessa, 38, posted the tender snap of her kissing ten-month-old Capri on Instagram with the caption: "I love you Koko Bean."
She also posted the dedication Kobe wrote to her in his 2019 book Epoca The Tree of Ecrof.
The touching inscription read: "For Vanessa. Thank you for always being the Realist to my Dreamer. -Kobe Bryant."
Vanessa captioned her photo of the book page: "Always learning from the best. ❤️My Boo-Boo, my Dreamer."
On Friday the LA County Coroner nearly four months after Lakers icon Kobe died in a chopper crash with daughter Gianna, 13, and seven others.
It said Kobe, 41, died from blunt force trauma with catastrophic brain injuries and 30 per cent burns.
The deaths of all nine on board were declared an accident following the fireball horror on a mountainside in Calabasas, California.
The graphic autopsy reports told of the devastating effect of the impact – describing broken bones, dismembered body parts and a stench of fuel on what remained of clothing that burned.
The helicopter's pilot, Ara Zobayan, 50, did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system, according to the coroner's report.
The only drug Bryant was found to have in his system was methylphenidate, which is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, the Lakers star's report read.
The graphic report made it clear: Bryant and the passengers almost certainly were dead in an instant due to blunt trauma.
“These injuries are rapidly if not instantly fatal,” wrote Juan Carrillo, senior deputy medical examiner, in Bryant’s report.
Bryant’s body was found on one side of the wreckage and his daughter was found in a ravine on the opposite side.
The other victims of the crash were: 13-year-old Payton Chester, Sarah Chester, 46, 14-year-old Alyssa Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, 46, John Altobelli, 56, and Christina Mauser, 38.
Bryant's helicopter crashed while traveling to a basketball game at Kobe's Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks.
The Sun as its a "painful memory" for widow Vanessa.
The chopper had been reportedly flying at about 184mph in "blinding fog" when it plunged more than 1,000 feet in a minute and crashed in a fireball.
ONGOING LAWSUIT
Federal authorities are still investigating the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board has not concluded what caused the crash on the outskirts of Los Angeles County but said there was no sign of mechanical failure in the Sikorsky S-76. A final report is not expected for months.
Vanessa hit the aircraft's owner, Island Express, with a 72-page lawsuit.
The complaint - which also lists daughters Natalia, Bianka and Capri as plaintiffs - was filed on the same day Vanessa delivered a heartbreaking eulogy for her husband and daughter at a memorial in Los Angeles.
The firm and the pilot, Defendant Zobayan, were described as "wanton, willful, callous, reckless and depraved" in the court document.
The owners of the doomed helicopter by stating Kobe and Gigi were fully aware of the risks they were taking when they decided to fly.
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They claim Vanessa has no case against them — in part because the foggy weather conditions were an “act of god."
In its response to the lawsuit allegations, the company states: "Kobe Bryant and GB [Gigi] had actual knowledge of all of the circumstances, particular dangers, and an appreciation of the risks involved and the magnitude thereof, and proceeded to encounter a known risk, and voluntarily assumed the risk of the accident, injury.... thereby barring or reducing [Vanessa's] claim for damages."
Bryant is the only NBA player to have his team retire two numbers in his honor. He was selected last month for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A ceremony is scheduled for late August though it may be delayed until at least October because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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