{"id":112919,"date":"2025-12-30T00:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T00:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/112919\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T00:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T00:19:07","slug":"socal-tennis-stars-death-haunts-mom-who-vows-dui-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/112919\/","title":{"rendered":"SoCal tennis star’s death ‘haunts’ mom, who vows DUI reform"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The mother of a local tennis star joined Los Angeles County prosecutors on Monday in calling for stricter DUI penalties in California after they say her son was killed by a two-time drunk driver.<\/p>\n

Braun Levi<\/a>, an 18-year-old South Bay tennis standout, was struck and killed by a car in the early-morning hours of May 4 in Manhattan Beach. <\/p>\n

According to Los Angeles County prosecutors, 33-year-old Jenia Resha Belt was behind the wheel, speeding while driving on a suspended license and with a blood alcohol level almost twice the legal limit. Belt, prosecutors say, has a previous conviction for driving drunk.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia\u2019s current DUI laws are broken and weak and fail to protect families like ours, and it\u2019s devastating,\u201d Braun\u2019s mother, Jennifer Levi, said at a news conference Monday. \u201cHis death haunts my every breath, every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although his parents were proud of his athletic and academic achievements, they were most proud of how he treated other people, Levi said. \u201cHe had a smile for everybody. He had a heart for everybody. I miss him so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

In light of her son\u2019s death, Levi said she would work with state Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera), whose granddaughter died after being hit by a drunk driver last year, to write and pass a bill that will restructure the state\u2019s DUI penalty laws and requirements, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe feeling, the sight, the smell of identifying our son\u2019s body will never leave my mind, body or soul, so I will not be silent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The SoCal athlete, who died a month before his high school graduation after entering the top national ranks in boys tennis, is part of a larger trend of DUI-related deaths over the last 15 years, according to a CalMatters <\/a>investigative series that L.A. Dist. Atty. Nathan J. Hochman referenced.<\/p>\n

Roadway deaths have been steadily rising since 2010, partially due to repeat drunk drivers and people driving over the speed limit, CalMatters reported. Alcohol-related deaths have increased by 50% over the last decade, according to the investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cBraun should be home right now from his first semester at UVA, spending the holidays with his family, their first as a family still displaced by the Palisades fire,\u201d said Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes Pacific Palisades. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe should be planning his future, not being remembered for the way his life was taken from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

California\u2019s DUI laws, although considered to be nation-leading in the 1980s, have fallen behind the curve, Hochman said. <\/p>\n

Hochman warned drivers, especially ahead of the New Year\u2019s holiday, that his office would continue to charge them \u2014 and potentially those who overserve alcohol at bars or parties \u2014 with serious crimes. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here to prevent crimes and send crystal clear messages to would-be drunk and drug drivers, to people who want to engage in excessive speed on our roads: We will come after you,\u201d Hochman said, calling the issue a \u201cfight for people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belt is charged with second-degree murder, felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and a misdemeanor count of driving with a suspended license after a DUI. She is being held on $2-million bail and faces life in prison if convicted. <\/p>\n

Belt\u2019s arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 13. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The mother of a local tennis star joined Los Angeles County prosecutors on Monday in calling for stricter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[36259,2789,36261,7,60633,339,60635,1431,14161,50411,50273,48,52,51,1637,47,50,49,39002,60634,7756],"class_list":{"0":"post-112919","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-belt","9":"tag-body","10":"tag-braun-levi","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-current-dui-law","13":"tag-death","14":"tag-dui-reform","15":"tag-family","16":"tag-haunt","17":"tag-hochman","18":"tag-jennifer-levi","19":"tag-la","20":"tag-la-headlines","21":"tag-la-news","22":"tag-life","23":"tag-los-angeles","24":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","25":"tag-los-angeles-news","26":"tag-other-people","27":"tag-socal-tennis-star","28":"tag-son"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}