The bodies of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people killed in a helicopter crash last month in Calabasas, California, have been released to their families, according to the website for the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner.
Last week, the coroner’s office announced that it had officially identified all nine victims killed in the January 26 crash.
Kobe Bryant was a living legend. In his final hours, he was an ordinary dad and friend. In addition to Bryant, 41, and his daughter, 13, the crash claimed the lives of Payton Chester, 13; Sarah Chester, 45; Alyssa Altobelli, 14; Keri Altobelli, 46; John Altobelli, 56; Christina Mauser, 38; and the helicopter’s pilot, Ara Zobayan, 50.
The cause of death for all nine victims was determined to be blunt force trauma, and the manner of death was certified as accident, according to the coroner’s office. The group was expected at the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks for a basketball game on the day the helicopter crashed about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.