Chris Chester, who lost his wifeSarahand their 13-year-old daughterPaytonin theJanuary 2020 helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and six others, testified Thursday that he is “fearful all the time every day” that the crash scene photos will leak to the public.
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“Payton and I had a very close relationship. I gave her my rah-rah speech,” he says, and then kissed Sarah and told them, “I’d see them tonight.”
Payton and Sarah Chester.Facebook
Chris said that ended up being the last time they ever talked. They typically would text throughout the day, but he started to worry when his last text went unanswered. He called Kobe’s assistant, who said she lost communication with them, and left his sons' lacrosse tournament to drive out to the Lost Hills sheriff station. As they drove, news of the crash broke.
“Lots of things were going through my head, but I thought I was going to a hospital,” he explained, thinking that Payton and Sarah would be injured, but still alive. But the station was alarmingly quiet, he said, and “I had started to get an eery feeling.” He was taken to an area with the other families, including Vanessa, where they were eventually told that there were no survivors.
“It was heavy,” he said. “My life will never be the same.”
That’s why, when he first learned that members of the sheriff’s department had taken and publicly shared photos from the crash scene, he was at first in disbelief. “It didn’t seem plausible,” he said. His feelings soon morphed into anger. While Chris felt “an empty sadness” after losing his wife and daughter, he said that when he learned that first responders were sharing photos he felt rage. “It was clearly something that brought the whole thing back.”
Chris testified that he has suffered high anxiety at the thought of those photos ever leaking to the public. “I didn’t even think they’d have photos,” he said. “It never crossed my mind in my wildest imagination that sheriffs with cell phones would take photos and then share them.”
This case has been “especially distressing” due to the many inconsistencies and level of uncertainty regarding the photos ever getting out, if they’re still in existence or even how many there really are, he said. “It’s fearful, the level of unknowns. I’m fearful all the time every day,” he said, at the thought of them getting out.
Vanessa Bryant.Jae C Hong/AP/Shutterstock
Chris, who said that he’s struggled with depression since the crash and at times would turn to drinking, decided to join Vanessa’s lawsuit because he wanted to get to the bottom of what happened.
“I wanted justice and accountability.”
Chris said that when he buried Sarah and Payton, “I told Sarah to take care of Payton and I’ve got the boys and I’ll see you again.”
“I’m thankful every day that I gave Sarah a kiss that morning and said ‘I love you.’ " He continued: “The grief of losing a child…you’re not supposed to outlive your kids.”
source: people.com
