Background: News footage of the scene of the car crash in May that killed Braun Levi (KTLA). Inset: Braun Levi (Instagram).
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has formally charged 33-year-old Jenia Resha Belt with second-degree murder, as detailed in a press release from the Manhattan Beach Police Department. Belt was apprehended on December 23, several months after her initial arrest on May 4 at the scene of the crash that resulted in the death of 18-year-old Braun Levi. She is currently detained with a bail set at $2 million.
Authorities reported that Belt was under the influence when she drove an SUV into Levi, who was crossing Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach, California, with a friend at 12:45 a.m. on May 4. At the time, Belt was reportedly operating a vehicle with a suspended license due to a previous drunk driving arrest earlier in 2023.
Emergency services found Levi lying on the road and rushed him to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Court documents acquired by the Los Angeles Times reveal that Belt’s blood alcohol content was nearly twice the legal limit at the time of the incident. She was detained at the crash site after her four passengers fled. Although Belt was initially released in June, she was re-arrested several months later, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
According to court records obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Belt had a blood alcohol level almost twice the legal limit at the time of the collision. She was arrested at the scene after the four passengers in her vehicle fled. Belt was released from custody in June, but arrested again months later, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Levi was a high school tennis star whose family lost their home in the Palisades wildfires in January. They had just moved to Manhattan Beach four months before tragedy struck the family again. Levi’s family started a foundation in memory of their late son.
In November, Levi’s family filed a $200 million wrongful death lawsuit against Belt.
Belt is charged with second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and driving with a suspended license. She is scheduled to be arraigned in Los Angeles County on Dec. 31.
