Natalia Bryant, the daughter of the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant, has filed a request for a restraining order against an alleged stalker in Los Angeles, court records show.
The 19-year-old University of Southern California student filed for a civil harassment restraining order on Monday against Dwayne Cortez Toliver Kemp, 32, of Sun Valley, California.
The filing states that Kemp allegedly started to harass her on social media in 2020 when she was just 17-years-old and he was 30.
Since 2020 Kemp, described in the filing as an online gun enthusiast, began messaging her on social media as if they had a romantic relationship, or as if he wanted to initiate such a relationship, the filing stated. She never met him but was fearful as he sent kissing faces, and hearts and threatened to make unwanted in-person contact with her, it said.
In July 2021, Kemp is alleged to have sent Bryant a DM with a picture of her father, Kobe Bryant, and a message alluding to his hope that he and Bryant can have a Kobe-like child together, according to the filing.
If Kemp began stalking Natalia two years ago, when she was 17 and he was 30, his stalking seems to have begun roughly a year after her father’s tragic death in January 2020. Kobe, who died alongside Natalia’s younger sister Gianna in a fatal helicopter crash, is survived by Natalia, her mother Vanessa, and her two younger sisters.
Kemp’s stalking isn’t the first legal battle that Natalia’s family has faced in recent months. In August, a jury sided with Vanessa in her lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and County Fire Department, seeking damages for a graphic photo that was leaked from the site of the helicopter crash.
Bryant said Kemp first made an attempt to contact her in 2020 'as if we had a romantic relationship, or as if he wanted to initiate such a relationship,' according to court docs obtained by Fox.
In one instance, Natalia said that Kemp sent her a DM that included a picture of the late Kobe Bryant with the inscription, 'Thankful For Him Birthing You, Hopefully We Can Birth Him… Kobe,' with the implication they would have 'a Kobe-like child together.'
According to court papers, Kemp is 'a gun enthusiast' who has been arrested and/or convicted on at least four occasions, in one instance involving firearms.
Kemp has past 'threatened to buy both an AK-47 and a fully automatic Glock,' the outlet reported citing court docs, and in currently in the purchasing process of a firearm.
Authorities with the Los Angeles Police Department are involved in the investigation and recommend the restraining order be granted.
Bryant has asked the court to issue Kemp a restraining order that would mandate he remain a minimum of 200 yards away from her, her residence, her job, her employment, her sorority house and her vehicle.
Bryant, who is a model for IMG, is pursuing a degree at film at USC. She is the eldest daughter of the late NBA icon, 41, and Vanessa Bryant, 40, who are also parents to the late Gigi, 13, as well as Bianka, five, and Capri, three.
Kobe and Gigi died with seven others on January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
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