{"id":367364,"date":"2025-12-25T04:34:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T04:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/367364\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T04:34:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T04:34:29","slug":"la-drunk-driver-accused-of-killing-tennis-star-braun-levi-arrested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/367364\/","title":{"rendered":"LA drunk driver accused of killing tennis star Braun Levi arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"

A repeat drunk driver<\/a> accused of mowing down an 18-year-old tennis star after he survived the Palisades Fire has finally been arrested and charged with murder \u2014 seven months after the deadly crash.<\/p>\n

Jenia Resha Belt, 33, faces one count of murder for the May 4 crash that killed teenager Braun Levi. Her blood alcohol level was more than double the legal limit at the time of the collision, according to a $200 million wrongful death lawsuit<\/a> filed by the victim\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

Braun Levi was a three-time captain of the Loyola High School tennis team. Instagram \/ @loyola.tennis<\/p>\n

Levi was walking with a friend in Manhattan Beach<\/a> around 1 a.m. on May 4 when an Infiniti FX35 allegedly driven by Belt plowed into the teen and killed him.<\/p>\n

Levi, a three-time captain of the Loyola High School tennis team, and his friend were walking along the road when Belt allegedly struck him with her vehicle \u2014 violently ending his life just months before he was due to play tennis at the University of Virginia following his high-school graduation.<\/p>\n

The California DMV said Jenia Resha Belt\u2019s driver\u2019s license was suspended in January 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe force of the impact propelled Braun\u2019s body down the roadway, resulting in catastrophic injuries,\u201d the Manhattan Beach Police Department said.<\/p>\n

Paramedics rushed Levi to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.\u00a0His family had relocated to Manhattan Beach after their house was destroyed in the Palisades Fire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Belt also faces one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and a misdemeanor count for driving on a suspended or revoked license, according to the LA County District Attorney\u2019s Office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The California DMV said Belt\u2019s driver\u2019s license was suspended in January 2024.\u00a0In 2023, prosecutors filed drunk-driving and hit-and-run charges against Belt, according to police.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a decision rooted in anger \u2026 or financial gain,\u201d Levi\u2019s parents said in their reasoning for filing a lawsuit. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Levi\u2019s parents said the money from the lawsuit will go to the \u201cLive Like Braun Foundation\u201d \u2014 a scholarship fund they founded following their son\u2019s death that will also help support public tennis centers and raise awareness about the dangers of impaired driving.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit claims Belt visited a bar in Hermosa Beach and consumed \u201cexcessive quantities of alcohol\u201d before driving.<\/p>\n

Levi\u2019s parents said the money from the lawsuit will go to the \u201cLive Like Braun Foundation.\u201d Fox 11<\/p>\n

\u201cDefendant 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,\u201d the wrongful death lawsuit claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur family has made the decision to file a civil lawsuit against the individual responsible for taking Braun\u2019s life,\u201d said the teen\u2019s mother Jennifer Levi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belt is being held on a $2 million bail bond. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A repeat drunk driver accused of mowing down an 18-year-old tennis star after he survived the Palisades Fire…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[3374,29026,49,3335,24845,48,33882,60395,83626,42311,157357,8127,1522,157358,145138,157359,82,55561,12953,593,886],"class_list":["post-367364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-alcohol","tag-arrest","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-california-wildfires","tag-canada","tag-car-crashes","tag-dmv","tag-drunk","tag-drunk-driving","tag-hit-and-run","tag-lawsuit","tag-los-angeles","tag-manslaughter","tag-murders","tag-reckless-driving","tag-sports","tag-student-athletes","tag-teens","tag-tennis","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367364","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=367364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}