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.
“Thankful For Him Birthing You, Hopefully We Can Birth Him… ‘Kobe,’” he wrote, the filing said.
The harassment “escalated over time” and he attempted to find her on the University of Southern California campus at least twice, most recently on Nov. 2., prompting her to feel fear for her safety, per the filing.
There were multiple witnesses to the escalating behavior including by USC faculty, USC Department of Public Safety and her sorority members, the filing said. USC and USC’s Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday morning from NBC News.
Further, Kemp appears to be a gun enthusiast who posted about his penchant for firearms online, the filing alleges.
Shortly after he attempted to visit Bryant at USC on Nov 2., he posted images of a “Draco” and a “mini Draco” with the comment “next” implying that these would be his next purchase, the filing states. Both are pistol style AK-47 firearms.
The following day he posted on Instagram that he wanted to purchase a “Glock Switch” immediately — which is illegal to possess under federal law as it’s a device that allows a semi-automatic Glock Pistol to function as a fully automatic firearm, Bryant’s lawyer wrote.
On Nov. 9, he posted three videos on his Instagram and Facebook accounts in the process of purchasing a rifle, also around the time he attempted to make contact with Bryant at USC, the filing said.
Kemp has been arrested and or convicted at least four times for misdemeanors, and one of those incidents involved a firearm, per the filing. Information on whether Kemp has a lawyer was not listed.
The filing stated that USC campus police and the Los Angeles Police Department supported Bryant’s restraining order request — and Kemp’s behavior has caused her “substantial emotional distress.”
The restraining order request asks that Kemp be required to stay at least 200 yards away from Bryant, her home, her workplace, her school, her vehicle and sorority house and the USC campus.
A next hearing date is set for Dec. 14.
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