The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a settlement totaling $2.5 million for two families involved in the January 2020 helicopter crash that killed Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others in Calabasas.
The proposal will pay $1.25 million each to the Altobelli and Mauser families.
Christina Mauser, John Altobelli, his wife Keri and 14-year-old daughter Alyssa were all killed when the helicopter crashed in the hills west of Los Angeles amid foggy weather.
“We believe these settlements of $1.25 million are reasonable and fair to all concerned. We are pleased that the Mauser and Altobelli families, who as private citizens suffered the same grief and loss as others, will be able to move forward after these settlements. We also hope that eventually the other families will be able to do the same,” attorney Skip Miller, who is outside counsel for L.A. County in the case, said in a statement.
The county has already spent about $1.3 million in fees and legal costs on the two cases, which were filed for invasion of privacy and negligence over photos taken at the crash site, USA Today reported.
While the county has come to agreements with Mauser and Altobelli families, a legal battle continues over a similar lawsuit by Bryant’s widow Vanessa.
The county sought to compel psychiatric evaluations for Vanessa Bryant and others to determine if they truly suffered emotional distress over photos taken at the crash scene that the lawsuit says were shared by county sheriff’s deputies and firefighters.
A federal judge on Monday ruled Vanessa Bryant would not have to undergo psychiatric testing for the lawsuit to continue.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick said that the county’s motion to compel an evaluation was untimely. Bryant’s invasion-of-privacy lawsuit is scheduled to begin in February.