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In a sad coda to the January helicopter crash that claimed the lives of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, the Los Angeles medical examiner’s office has released the autopsy reports of the nine victims.
The autopsies show the sole cause of death for all the victims was blunt force trauma. The office certified the manner of death for each of them as accidental.
The results, which include graphic descriptions of fractures and dismemberments, were posted on the website of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner office shortly after 6 p.m.
The grim results refer to the victims by name and case number — the NBA legend is Case No. 2020-00797.
Each victim is assigned the same Case Status — “Closed,” — and a place of death listed as “Mountain Side.”
The nine died instantly, the autopsies said, when the chopper crashed in foggy conditions in the hills overlooking Calabasas.
The results also confirmed that the pilot of the helicopter, Ara Zobayan, had no illegal drugs or alcohol in his system.
Bryant tested positive only for prescription methylphenidate, the attention deficit drug commonly sold as Ritalin.
In more lingering aftermath of the tragedy, the family of the — who was among the fatalities — is in a pitched legal battle with Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, who is suing Zobayan and Express Helicopters for wrongful death.
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