The second annual Live Like Braun Memorial Live Ball Tournament takes the courts Saturday, August 8, at Peninsula Racquet Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, honoring Braun Levi, the 18-year-old nationally ranked tennis player from Hermosa Beach who was killed in a Manhattan Beach DUI crash in May 2025.
The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the same venue that hosted the inaugural tournament last year. Participants can play, watch, or donate, with proceeds going to the Live Like Braun Foundation.
Levi, a three-year varsity captain at Loyola High School, was ranked 50th nationally. Days before his death, he and his doubles partner had won their fourth consecutive Mission League championship. He was committed to play at the University of Virginia.
He was 18 years old.
His family had relocated to Hermosa Beach after losing their home in the Palisades fires in January 2025. On May 4, 2025, Levi was crossing Sepulveda Boulevard at Ronda Drive in Manhattan Beach with friends described as Mira Costa students when he was struck by a driver traveling between 49 and 53 mph in a 35 mph zone.
Jennifer Levi, Braun's mother, founded the Live Like Braun Foundation in the months after his death. The foundation funds scholarships, promotes DUI awareness, and supports public tennis centers and South Bay athletic facilities. Manhattan Beach is collaborating with the foundation to integrate DUI prevention into official safety campaigns along Sepulveda Boulevard, where three pedestrians were killed in less than six months in 2024 and 2025, according to Easy Reader News.
Jennifer Levi's advocacy has extended beyond the foundation. At a December 29, 2025, press conference alongside Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, she said: "I will not be silent. That's why I'm committed to advancing a new bill to restructure California DUI sentencing and punishment."
That effort produced results. California Senate Bill 907, known as "Braun's Law," passed the state Senate unanimously 36-0 on May 26. The bill would require that drivers whose DUI charges are dismissed or reduced receive a Watson Warning, advising them they could face second-degree murder charges if they drive drunk and kill someone. It was pending before the Assembly Public Safety Committee as of July, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.
The criminal case against Jenia Resha Belt, 34, the accused driver, is also advancing. As we reported July 29, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas R. Sokolov ordered Belt to stand trial on counts of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and misdemeanor driving on a suspended license. Belt's blood alcohol level tested at 0.19% nearly two hours after the crash. Her license had been suspended due to a prior 2023 DUI arrest.
Tournament organizers are already looking ahead. According to the Palisadian-Post, the foundation hopes to hold a larger activation event at the Palisades in 2027.
Saturday's tournament at Peninsula Racquet Club, 30850 Hawthorne Blvd., begins at 11 a.m. Reservations can be made by calling (310) 541-2523.
