Natalia Bryant, the 19-year-old daughter of Kobe and Vanessa Bryant, has filed for a restraining order against an alleged stalker, court records show.
Bryant, a student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park area, filed for a civil harassment restraining order against Dwayne Cortez Toliver Kemp, a 32-year-old Sun Valley man.
The harassment started in 2020 on social media when Bryant was 17 and he was 30, according to court documents. Since then, the man described in the documents as an online gun enthusiast, began sending Bryant messages on social media that included threats to make unwanted in-person contact with her, the documents state.
In July 2021, Bryant received a direct message with a photo of her father, who was one of nine people, including 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant, killed in a 2020 helicopter crash northwest of Los Angeles.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
"Thankful For Him Birthing You, Hopefully We Can Birth Him… ‘Kobe,’” he wrote, the filing said.
The harassment escalated over time and Kemp tried to find Bryant on the USC campus at least twice, most recently on Nov. 2, the filing said. Shortly after, he posted images of firearms that he indicated he planned to buy, then later posted videos on Instagram and Facebook of himself in the process of buying a rifle, the court documents said.
USC and USC’s Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday morning from NBC News. The filing said campus police and Los Angeles police supported the restraining order and cited “substantial emotional distress” caused by Kemp.
The order requests Kemp remain at least 200 yards from Bryant, her home, her workplace, her school, her vehicle and sorority house and the USC campus.
It was not immediately clear whether Kemp has an attorney. A hearing date is scheduled for Dec. 14.