200618 Kobe crash
Firefighters work the scene of a helicopter crash where former NBA star Kobe Bryant died in Calabasas, California on January 26, 2020. Image Credit: AP

Los Angeles: A jury ordered Los Angeles County to pay $31 million in damages Wednesday over graphic photos taken by sheriff’s deputies and firefighters of the helicopter crash that killed basketball star Kobe Bryant.

The county was ordered to pay $16 million to Vanessa Bryant, the NBA great’s widow, and $15 million to co-plaintiff Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter also died in the January 2020 crash on a hillside near Los Angeles.

Jurors in downtown Los Angeles reached their verdict after roughly four and a half hours of deliberations.