The heartbroken parents of a California high school tennis star have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the alleged drunk driver who fatally hit him while he was out for a late-night stroll with friends.
Braun Levi, 18, was walking with a friend down a boulevard in Manhattan Beach at around 1 a.m. on May 4 when an Infiniti FX35 allegedly driven by 33-year-old Jenia Resha Belt plowed into the teen and killed him.
Levi was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, just a month before he was due to graduate from Loyola High School.
Belt — who was driving with a suspended license following a prior DUI arrest — had a blood alcohol level nearly two times the legal limit at the time of the crash, according to court records obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
Authorities arrested the alleged drunk driver at the scene, but after being released on June 4, Belt has yet to be formally charged with a crime relating to Levi’s death.
Now, after months of battling with their grief, Levi’s parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Belt for $200 million in damages.
“Our family has made the decision to file a civil lawsuit against the individual responsible for taking Braun’s life,” the teen’s mother, Jennifer Levi, said.
“This is not a decision rooted in anger, vengeance, or financial gain. It is a decision grounded in accountability, prevention, reform, and the unwavering love we have for Braun.”
Levi’s parents said the money won in the lawsuit will go to the “Live Like Braun Foundation” — a scholarship fund they founded following their son’s death that will also help support public tennis centers and raise awareness about the dangers of impaired driving.
The lawsuit claims Belt visited a bar in Hermosa Beach and consumed “excessive quantities of alcohol” before driving.
“Defendant Belt voluntarily commenced and thereafter continued to consume alcoholic beverages to the point of intoxication, knowing from the outset that she must thereafter operate a motor vehicle,” the wrongful death lawsuit claims.
Belt then allegedly “willfully chose to operate the vehicle while intoxicated and at an unsafe, excessive speed,” striking Levi and inflicting “severe bodily and head injuries that ultimately caused his death.”
The lawsuit further claims officers who arrived at the crash scene detected the odor of alcohol on the 33-year-old and she allegedly admitted to drinking before the fatal crash.
The suit also states she was a “repeat offender drunk driver,” with a prior arrest and prosecution for DUI involving an injury collision.
LA County court records indicate she faced DUI charges from a November 25, 2023, incident involving injuries, the LA Times reported.
However, the DUI charges were dropped as part of a September 2024 plea deal, with Belt pleading no contest to a misdemeanor count of hit-and-run with property damage, the Westside Current reported.
Under the plea agreement, Belt’s driver’s license was reportedly suspended, and she received a one-year probation sentence.
The suit claims that despite these prior incidents and completing classes on the dangers of drunk driving, “[Belt] nevertheless willfully chose to operate her vehicle while severely intoxicated, in conscious disregard for the safety of others.”
Before Levi’s life was cut short, he was gearing up to play tennis at the University of Virginia following his graduation from high school.
He was also killed just months after his family relocated to the area after losing their home in the wildfires that devastated vast swaths of Los Angeles in January.
