The mom of an area tennis star joined Los Angeles County prosecutors on Monday in calling for stricter DUI penalties in California after they are saying her son was killed by a two-time drunk driver.
Braun Levi, an 18-year-old South Bay tennis standout, was struck and killed by a automotive within the early-morning hours of Could 4 in Manhattan Seaside.
In accordance with Los Angeles County prosecutors, 33-year-old Jenia Resha Belt was behind the wheel, rushing whereas driving on a suspended license and with a blood alcohol degree nearly twice the authorized restrict. Belt, prosecutors say, has a earlier conviction for driving drunk.
“California’s present DUI legal guidelines are damaged and weak and fail to guard households like ours, and it’s devastating,” Braun’s mom, Jennifer Levi, mentioned at a information convention Monday. “His demise haunts my each breath, every single day.”
Though his mother and father had been pleased with his athletic and tutorial achievements, they had been most pleased with how he handled different individuals, Levi mentioned. “He had a smile for everyone. He had a coronary heart for everyone. I miss him a lot.”
In mild of her son’s demise, Levi mentioned she would work with state Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera), whose granddaughter died after being hit by a drunk driver final 12 months, to write down and go a invoice that can restructure the state’s DUI penalty legal guidelines and necessities, she mentioned.
“The sensation, the sight, the scent of figuring out our son’s physique won’t ever go away my thoughts, physique or soul, so I can’t be silent,” she mentioned.
The SoCal athlete, who died a month earlier than his highschool commencement after getting into the highest nationwide ranks in boys tennis, is a component of a bigger pattern of DUI-related deaths during the last 15 years, in response to a CalMatters investigative collection that L.A. Dist. Atty. Nathan J. Hochman referenced.
Roadway deaths have been steadily rising since 2010, partially attributable to repeat drunk drivers and other people driving over the velocity restrict, CalMatters reported. Alcohol-related deaths have elevated by 50% during the last decade, in response to the investigation.
“Braun ought to be house proper now from his first semester at UVA, spending the vacations together with his household, their first as a household nonetheless displaced by the Palisades hearth,” mentioned Councilmember Traci Park, whose district contains Pacific Palisades.
“He ought to be planning his future, not being remembered for the best way his life was taken from him.”
California’s DUI legal guidelines, though thought-about to be nation-leading within the Nineteen Eighties, have fallen behind the curve, Hochman mentioned.
Hochman warned drivers, particularly forward of the New Yr’s vacation, that his workplace would proceed to cost them — and probably those that overserve alcohol at bars or events — with severe crimes.
“We’re right here to forestall crimes and ship crystal clear messages to would-be drunk and drug drivers, to individuals who wish to interact in extreme velocity on our roads: We are going to come after you,” Hochman mentioned, calling the problem a “struggle for individuals’s lives.”
Belt is charged with second-degree homicide, felony gross vehicular manslaughter whereas intoxicated and a misdemeanor depend of driving with a suspended license after a DUI. She is being held on $2-million bail and faces life in jail if convicted.
Belt’s arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 13.
