Braun Levi died after being hit by a drunk driver, police allege

Simply final month, Loyola Excessive College in Los Angeles celebrated senior Braun Levi for transferring into the highest nationwide ranks of boys tennis.

The 18-year-old bagged one other victory simply days in the past, profitable the Mission League doubles championship. In a photograph, the beaming Levi stands beside teammate Cooper Schwartz, holding up 4 fingers — one for every of his 4 straight league doubles championships.

These achievements needed to be a little bit of a balm for the Levi household, coming just some months after their residence in Pacific Palisades burned within the January firestorm. The household had relocated to the South Bay.

It felt past comprehension, then, when Loyola Principal Jamal Adams emailed college students and workers of the Catholic Jesuit faculty Sunday to tell them that Levi had been killed in a visitors accident simply hours earlier, a month earlier than his highschool commencement.

“Braun was a shining presence in our Loyola household,” Adams wrote, “bringing mild, pleasure, and inspiration to everybody he touched.”

The principal invited the Loyola faculty household to a prayer vigil on campus Sunday night. “All members of our group are welcome to hitch us as we collect in unity and remembrance,” Adams wrote.

Manhattan Seashore police mentioned they’d arrested a 33-year-old Los Angeles girl on suspicion of drunk driving and murder in reference to the crash, which they mentioned occurred after midnight Sunday morning.

A quick information launch from the division mentioned solely {that a} name got here in at 12:46 a.m. a couple of visitors accident involving a pedestrian within the 100 block of South Sepulveda Boulevard. They discovered the sufferer, whom they didn’t determine, mendacity on the street.

The police assertion mentioned that Jenia Belt of Los Angeles had been arrested within the crash. Belt remained within the Manhattan Seashore jail Sunday, a police watch commander mentioned.

Pals showered Levi’s social media accounts with tributes to him. Levi was to attend the College of Virginia within the fall.

“Anybody who acquired to know you is aware of how fortunate they’re,” mentioned one message. “You by no means met a stranger, and left an affect on everybody you met. I’m going to reside and love as massive as you on daily basis.”

Mentioned one other: “Whether or not you had been fortunate sufficient to cross paths with him for an hour or a lifetime, he left an impression. It was unimaginable to be unhappy or bored at any time when Braun was round, and his present for lifting these round him was actually singular.”

The pictures from Levi’s social media trace at a prototypical Southern California upbringing. He’s wading in a Excessive Sierra lake along with his household, arm-in-arm with buddies on the seashore, posing for a selfie with actor Adam Sandler and rocking a pink go well with and a fedora beside a horse racing monitor.

Simply two years in the past, one other Loyola Excessive student-athlete died within the last weeks of his highschool profession. Ryan Instances, a pitcher on the baseball workforce, was struck and killed by a prepare in April of 2023, when the varsity was on spring break.

Brian Held, coach of the Loyola varsity tennis workforce, referred to as Levi, a three-year captain, “in all probability probably the most adorned participant to ever play for the varsity.”

Held additionally taught Levi in AP Economics and Statistics. “We’re all shocked, devastated and heartbroken with this tragedy,” Held mentioned through e mail. “Braun was probably the most wonderful, all-around chief, whom everybody cherished, even his opponents. He was simply that sort of child — distinctive and particular. As one among his academics, I witnessed how he introduced pleasure to everybody.”

Levi is survived by his mother and father and an older sister.

Instances workers author Eric Sondheimer contributed to this report.