{"id":367222,"date":"2025-12-25T02:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T02:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/367222\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T02:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T02:54:09","slug":"suspected-drunk-driver-charged-with-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/367222\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspected Drunk Driver Charged with Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> NEED TO KNOW<br \/>\nJenia Resha Belt, 33, is facing multiple charges \u2014\u00a0including murder \u2014 in connection with the death of Braun LeviThe Loyola High School senior was allegedly hit by a vehicle driven by Belt on Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach just before 1 a.m. on Sunday, May 4Just months before his death, Levi&#8217;s family lost their home in the Palisades Fire<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_2-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> A suspected drunk driver was charged with second-degree murder on Tuesday, Dec. 23, in connection with the death of an 18-year-old California high school tennis star.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_4-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Jenia Resha Belt, 33, is also charged with one felony count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and one misdemeanor count of &#8220;driving when privilege suspended or revoked for driving with specified blood alcohol level&#8221; in connection with the death of <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/tennis-star-killed-suspected-drunk-driver-months-after-family-lost-home-palisades-fire-11728344\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Braun Levi<\/a>, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney&#8217;s Office.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_6-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> The Loyola High School senior was allegedly hit by a vehicle driven by Belt on Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach just before 1 a.m. on Sunday, May 4, according to a Manhattan Beach Police Department press release.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_8-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> When officers arrived at approximately 1 a.m., they discovered the teen in the street next to a vehicle. He was transported to a hospital, where he died from his injuries, authorities said.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_10-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> According to court records obtained by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2025-12-23\/suspected-drunk-driver-charged-with-murder-in-death-of-high-school-tennis-star\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Times<\/a>, authorities allege that Belt&#8217;s blood alcohol level was close to twice the legal limit and that her license was suspended at the time of the fatal crash because of an earlier DUI arrest.\n<\/p>\n<p> Braun Levi.<\/p>\n<p>Loyola High School<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_13-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/forms.dotdashmeredith.com\/people-true-crime%22%3EPEOPLE%27%3Cem%3Eshttps:\/\/forms.dotdashmeredith.com\/people-true-crime\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PEOPLE&#8217;s free True Crime newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_15-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Just months before his death, his family lost their home in the Palisades Fire and relocated to the South Bay area.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_19-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Jamal Adams, Principal and President-elect of Loyola High School of Los Angeles, <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/tennis-star-killed-suspected-drunk-driver-months-after-family-lost-home-palisades-fire-11728344\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">previously told PEOPLE<\/a> that Levi stepped up after the wildfires to care for others, helping to create a peer-to-peer counseling space for students who had been displaced. He also worked with his best friend and the school administration to organize an overnight retreat for those affected.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_21-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Adams said Levi always put others first. \u201cHe was a shining example of caring for other people \u2014 even in the midst of going through his own personal situation,\u201d\u00a0Adams said.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_23-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Levi had plans to go to the University of Virginia in September, per the Times.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_27-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> After his death, his parents started the <a href=\"https:\/\/livelikebraunfoundation.org\/\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Live Like Braun Foundation<\/a>. The foundation focuses on providing scholarships, repair and building of public tennis centers, and raising awareness about impaired driving.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_29-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> \u201cBraun Levi was an extraordinary soul whose radiant energy touched everyone who knew him,\u201d the website states.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_31-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> In November, the family filed a $200 million wrongful death lawsuit, according to the Times.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_33-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> Belt\u2019s arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 13.\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_35-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\"> She is currently in custody on $2 million bail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW Jenia Resha Belt, 33, is facing multiple charges \u2014\u00a0including murder \u2014 in connection with the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-367222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}