The mother of a local tennis star on Monday joined Los Angeles County prosecutors in calling for tougher penalties for drunk driving in California after they said her son was killed twice by a drunk driver.
Brown LevyThe 18-year-old South Bay tennis standout was hit by a car early on May 4 in Manhattan Beach.
Jenya Resha Belt, 33, was driving while speeding while driving with a suspended license and with a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Prosecutors said Belt had a previous conviction for driving under the influence.
“California's current drunk driving laws are broken and weak and fail to protect families like ours, and it's devastating,” Brown's mother, Jennifer Levy, said at a news conference Monday. “His death haunts me with every breath, every day.”
While his parents were proud of his athletic and academic accomplishments, they were most proud of the way he treated other people, Levy said. “He had a smile for everyone. He had a heart for everyone. I miss him so much.”
In light of her son's death, Levy said she will work with state Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera), whose granddaughter died after she was hit by a drunk driver last year, to write and pass legislation that would change the state's laws and penalties for drunk driving, she said.
“The feeling, the sight, the smell of identifying our son's body will never leave my mind, body and soul, so I will not remain silent,” she said.
A SoCal athlete who died a month before graduating high school after entering the top national rankings in boys tennis is part of a larger trend in drunk driving-related deaths over the past 15 years, according to CalMatters investigative series focusing on LA Dist. Atty. Reference Nathan J. Hochman.
Road deaths have been rising steadily since 2010, partly due to persistent drunk drivers and people speeding, CalMatters reports. Alcohol-related deaths have increased by 50% over the past decade, according to the investigation.
“Brown should be home right now after his first semester at UVA, spending the holidays with his family, their first holidays as a family still displaced by the Palisades fire,” said Councilwoman Tracy Park, whose district includes Pacific Palisades.
“He should be planning for his future, not remembering how his life was taken from him.”
California's drunk driving laws, while considered the nation's leading in the 1980s, have lagged behind, Hochman said.
Hochman warned drivers, especially as the holiday season approaches, that his office will continue to charge them — and possibly those who drink to excess at bars or parties — with serious crimes.
“We're here to prevent crime and send a crystal clear message to potential drunk and drug drivers, people who want to speed on our roads: We're coming for you,” Hochman said, calling the issue “a fight for people's lives.”
Belt is charged with second-degree murder, felony vehicular homicide while intoxicated and a misdemeanor count of driving with a suspended license after driving while intoxicated. She is being held on $2 million bail and faces life in prison if convicted.
Belt's arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 13.
