Overview
- Prosecutors have charged Jenia Resha Belt, 33, with second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and driving on a suspended license, and she is being held on $2 million bail after a Dec. 23 re-arrest.
- Belt’s arraignment is set for Jan. 13 at the Torrance courthouse, and prosecutors say a conviction could carry a sentence of 15 years to life.
- Investigators say Belt’s blood-alcohol level measured 0.19% after the May 4 crash that fatally injured 18-year-old Braun Levi as he walked along South Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach.
- Records indicate Belt’s license was suspended following a November 2023 DUI arrest and that she later received probation in a related hit-and-run case under a plea that dismissed the DUI count.
- At Monday’s event, DA Nathan Hochman and state Sen. Bob Archuleta promoted measures including mandatory ignition interlocks after a first DUI and reclassifying certain DUI-caused injuries as violent felonies.