A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday, July 28, that Jenia Resha Belt will stand trial on murder and gross vehicular manslaughter charges in the death of 18-year-old Braun Levi, the Hermosa Beach tennis star killed while crossing Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach last year.

Judge Thomas R. Sokolov denied a defense motion to dismiss the two most serious counts after an hours-long preliminary hearing, finding sufficient evidence that Belt, 34, knew it was dangerous to drive that night, the Daily Breeze reported. Sokolov pointed to Belt's prior DUI-related license suspension and her blood-alcohol level of 0.19%, more than twice the legal limit, as key factors.

Belt was driving a silver Infiniti SUV northbound on Sepulveda just before 12:45 a.m. on Sunday, May 4, 2025, when she struck Levi in the left lane at Ronda Drive. California Highway Patrol Officer Jeffrey Crain testified the SUV was traveling between 49 and 53 mph in a 35 mph zone.

During the hearing, prosecutors played a portion of Belt's post-crash interview in which she told officers she believed she could operate a vehicle safely until she finished two bottles of wine. Sokolov called the statement "unfathomable to this court."

Deputy District Attorney Brittany Vannoy argued Belt was "on notice" after seeing another pedestrian in the road, and that Levi had been visible long enough to avoid. Defense attorney Kevin Hawkins countered that Levi was outside a crosswalk at 1 a.m. and that the collision would not have occurred "but for Mr. Braun stepping into the roadway."

The judge rejected that argument.

Levi was crossing Sepulveda with three friends, all Mira Costa High School students, when he was struck. Two had already crossed safely. A third, standing at the median, called 911 and stayed with Levi until paramedics arrived.

A family's compounding losses

The Levi family had relocated to Hermosa Beach just four months before the crash after losing their Pacific Palisades home in the January 2025 fires. Levi was a nationally ranked tennis player (50th in the country), captain of the Loyola High School team, and had committed to play at the University of Virginia. Days before his death, he and his doubles partner won their fourth consecutive Mission League championship.

Belt had been arrested in 2023 on suspicion of DUI and hit-and-run with property damage but took a plea deal on the hit-and-run charge while the alcohol-related counts were dismissed. She was never given a Watson advisement, the formal warning that a repeat drunk driver who kills someone can face murder charges. The California DMV suspended her license in January 2024.

That gap in the system has become a focus for Levi's mother, Jennifer Levi, who said in a February 2026 interview with the New York Post: "The woman who killed our son, she had a previous DUI but made a misdemeanor plea deal for a hit and run and was never read the Watson Warning."

The family has since filed a $200 million wrongful death lawsuit and established the Live Like Braun Foundation, which funds college scholarships and DUI-awareness seminars at high schools. The foundation is also working with state Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera) on Senate Bill 907, which includes "Braun's Law," a provision that would mandate Watson Warnings when defendants plead down from DUI to hit-and-run.

The Manhattan Beach City Council has been collaborating with the foundation to integrate DUI prevention into safety campaigns along Sepulveda Boulevard, where three pedestrians were killed in less than six months in 2024–2025, according to Easy Reader News.

Belt is being held on $2 million bail. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in December 2025 that he will seek a life prison term if Belt is convicted of murder. No trial date has been announced.