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Los Angeles County agreed on Tuesday to pay $2.5 million to two families who lost relatives in last year's helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven other people. 

The Board of Supervisors approved the settlement of two federal lawsuits filed by the Altobelli and Mauser families alleging they suffered emotional distress over graphic photographs of the scene that reportedly were taken or shared by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and firefighters.

The settlement, if approved by a judge, will pay $1.25 million to Matthew Mauser, whose wife was killed. Another $1.25 million will be shared by J.J. Altobelli and Alexis Altobelli, siblings who lost their mother, father and 14-year-old sister. 

A similar lawsuit by Bryant's widow continues, however.

Bryant, 41, and Gianna Bryant, 13, were among the nine people who were killed when their private helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76, crashed in the hills of Calabasas, just outside of Los Angeles, after taking off from Orange County on January 26, 2020.

Bryant and the others were on their way to a girls basketball tournament. The helicopter crashed in the hills west of Los Angeles amid foggy weather. Federal safety officials blamed pilot error for the wreck.   

Los Angeles County agreed Tuesday to pay $2.5 million to two families who lost relatives in last year's helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven other people. Pictured: Firefighters work the scene of the helicopter crash on January 26, 2020

The county already spent about $1.3 million in legal costs in the two invasion-of-privacy cases, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The settlements are 'reasonable and fair to all concerned,' said Skip Miller, an attorney representing the county. 

'We are pleased that the Mauser and Altobelli families, who as private citizens suffered the same grief and loss as others, will be able to move forward after these settlements,' Miller said.

'We also hope that eventually the other families will be able to do the same.'

Vanessa Bryant - the widow of the late Lakers legend - continues her own lawsuit over the photos, which weren't taken as part of the investigation into the crash. 

She filed a lawsuit against the county for invasion of privacy and negligence after several LASD and County Fire employees circulated images showing the human remains of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna. 

Last week, the uncle of Alexis Altobelli, 17, said she is doing her best to cope with the enormous loss and has been living with her half-brother J.J. Altobelli.

Alexis lost her baseball coach father John Altobelli, 56, her mother Keri, 46, and her younger sister daughter Alyssa, 14.

'They are coping as good as can be expected. JJ is Lexi's guardian now, which is great,' Lexi's uncle Tony Altobelli, John's younger brother, told The Sun. 

He said the COVID crisis has made it harder for his family to grieve because they can't embrace each other saying, 'The fact that you can't hug people made it so much harder.' Lexi is currently a senior at Newport Harbor High School who is preparing to head to college.

A federal judge on Monday ruled that Vanessa Bryant won't have to undergo an independent psychological examination that the county had argued was necessary to determine whether she had suffered emotional distress.

If signed off by a judge, Lexi Altobelli, 17, (center) will share $1.25 million from the settlement from LA County after her parents John Altobelli, 56, his wife Keri, 46, (together left) and her younger sister Alyssa (right) died in the January 26, 2020 Calabasas helicopter

John Altobelli worked as a coach for the Pirates baseball team at Orange Coast College. Pictured left and right with wife Keri. They were both killed in the crash

The settlement, if approved by a judge, will pay $1.25 million to Matthew Mauser (pictured right), whose wife Christina (pictured left) was killed in the crash

The lawsuit contends first responders, including firefighters and sheriff's deputies, shared photographs of Kobe Bryant's body with a bartender and passed around 'gratuitous photos of the dead children, parents and coaches.' 

The suit claims that deputies circulated the photos among themselves gratuitously, and that one displayed a photo on his phone to a bartender at Baja California Bar and Grill, who then loudly proclaimed to patrons and staff that he'd just seen an image of Kobe Bryant's body.

Los Angeles County contends that, while the conduct was inappropriate, showing a photo to one member of the public does not constitute invasion of privacy. 

The county says that the photos were not shared with the media or posted on the internet, and thus were 'not publicly disseminated.' 

Attorneys for the county have also argued that Bryant had never seen the photographs, which haven't been made public.

The trial is scheduled to begin in February.

According to the lawsuits, they were shared by a deputy trainee with some bar patrons and by a firefighter with a group of off-duty colleagues.

Vanessa Bryant said in a deposition that 'for the rest of my life I'm going to have to fear that these photographs of my husband and child will be leaked.' 

Also pending is a lawsuit filed by survivors of crash victims Sarah Chester and her 13-year-old daughter. 

News of the settlement comes after reports last week that said Bryant  will get to question the Los Angeles County sheriff and the county's top fire official under oath.

Kobe Bryant is seen with Gianna (top left) and his wife and other children in a family photo

Her request to force Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and County Fire Chief Daryl Osby to provide pretrial testimony in a deposition was granted on October 27 by US Magistrate Judge Charles Eick, USA Today reported. 

Villanueva and Osby are two of the most powerful public safety officials in Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States.  

In his ruling, Judge Eick determined that Villanueva and Osby have 'unique, firsthand, non-repetitive knowledge relevant to the issues in this case' that is 'not entirely obtainable' through other sources.

Eick will allow Vanessa Bryant's lawyers to question the sheriff and the fire chief for up to four hours in order to allow them to return to their official duties with minimum disruption.

Lawyers for the county had hoped to prevent Vanessa Bryant's lawyers from questioning Villanueva and Osby. They argued that heads of government agencies 'are not normally subject to deposition, absent extraordinary circumstances.'

The county said that top officials are usually not required to testify since this protects them 'from discovery that will burden the performance of their duties, particularly given the frequency with which such officials are likely to be named in lawsuits.'

Skip Miller, a lawyer representing the county, told USA Today: 'While we disagree with the court's decision, we will make both the Sheriff and Fire Chief available for deposition.

Lakers Legend Bryant, 41, and his daughter Gianna, 13, also died on board the helicopter as they flew to a basketball tournament. The two pictured above in November 2019

'Their testimony will not change the fact that there is no evidence any photos taken by County first responders have ever been publicly disseminated.'

Vanessa Bryant said she pleaded with Villanueva to make sure no one takes photographs from the site of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed the basketball star, and he reassured that the area had been secured, court documents say.

After Villanueva confirmed her husband, their teenage daughter, along with seven others, were killed, he asked Vanessa Bryant if he could do anything for her, according to a transcript of a deposition obtained by USA TODAY Sports on Saturday on her lawsuit against Los Angeles County.

'And I said: 'If you can't bring my husband and baby back, please make sure that no one takes photographs of them. Please secure the area',' Vanessa Bryant said during the deposition. 

'And he said: 'I will.'

'And I said: 'No, I need you to get on the phone right now and I need you to make sure you secure the area'.'

Villanueva, she said, excused himself momentarily and reassured her the area had been secured when he came back.

Kobe Bryant's widow also revealed in a sworn statement how she learned of the helicopter crash that killed the retired basketball star and their daughter Gianna, as well as other details from the tragic day that have never before been made public. 

Under questioning from a county attorney, Vanessa said she first learned of the crash, which occurred around 9.45am, when her assistant knocked on the door about 11.30am and told her there had been a crash. 

NBA star Kobe Bryant's widow Vanessa Bryant revealed in a sworn statement how she learned of the helicopter crash that killed him and their daughter Gianna last year. Pictured: Vanessa Bryant wipes away tears as she speaks during the 'Celebration of Life for Kobe and Gianna Bryant' service at Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles on February 24, 2020

In this file photo taken on January 26, 2021 people gather in front of a mural of former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, both with a set of wings, by artist sloe_motions displayed on a wall in downtown Los Angeles

'She told me that there was an accident and that there were five survivors,' Vanessa testified from Newport Beach over Zoom on October 12, according to a transcript obtained by USA Today. 

'And I asked her if Gianna and Kobe were okay. And she said she wasn't sure. She didn't know.' 

Hearing that there were survivors -- which turned out not to be true, as all nine people aboard were killed instantly on impact -- Vanessa said that she initially assumed Kobe and Gianna had survived.

But as she tried in vain to call her husband, notifications began to pop up on her phone, sharing condolences for Kobe's death. 

'I was trying to call my husband back, and all these notifications started popping up on my phone, saying RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe,' she said. 

She said that she rushed to an airport to try to take a helicopter to the crash scene, but was told that weather conditions would not permit flight.

Vanessa also revealed that she recovered the clothes Kobe and Gianna wore during the crash, out of concern that someone would take pictures of them. 

'They suffered a lot,' Bryant said during the deposition, according to the New York Times. 

'And if their clothes represent the condition of their bodies, I cannot imagine how someone could be so callous and have no regard for them or their friends and just share the images as if they were animals on the street.' 

'The impact of the helicopter crash was so damaging, I just don't understand how someone can have no regard for life and compassion, and, instead, choose to take that opportunity to photograph lifeless and helpless individuals for their own sick amusement,' she said.   

'My life will never be the same without my husband and daughter.'