Who Were The Victims of the Helicopter Crash That Killed Kobe Bryant?

Scott Stump of NBC News/TODAY on NBC wrote:The tragic helicopter wreck that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, has also left the world mourning the loss of the seven others who died in the crash in Southern California.

The other victims included two of Gianna's 13-year-old basketball teammates, Payton Chester and Alyssa Altobelli. Chester's mother, Sarah, also was killed along with Altobelli's parents, longtime college baseball coach John Altobelli and his wife, Keri.

Christina Mauser, 38, who was an assistant basketball coach and mother of three, also died along with pilot Ara Zobayan. The group was traveling to Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks for a basketball tournament when the crash occurred.

Payton Chester's grandmother and Sarah Chester's mother, Catherine George, told NBC News that Payton "loved playing for Kobe Bryant."

"He was a great coach,'' she said. "Her mother and father were very helpful ... and they practiced a lot, and for 13 she was very good."

Sarah Chester was remembered as a loving and supportive mother of Payton and her twin brothers. One of the boys, Riley Chester, paid tribute to his mother and sister on Instagram.

"Rest In Peace to the most amazing Mother and sister,'' he wrote. "I love you Pay Pay and Mom RIP."

"She was a great mom and did a lot of driving for the kids who all played sports,'' George said. "They were just great people. They had a fortunate life and got to travel and spend time together a lot. Sarah was the heart of that family. She died doing what she loves."

Zobayan was a pilot who taught others to fly and "was very much loved in the aviation community," according to Christina Pascucci of Los Angeles station KTLA.

John Altobelli was the head baseball coach at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, for the past 27 years and also coached New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge and New York Mets All-Star Jeff McNeil in the summer in the Cape Cod League in New England.

Altobelli was coming off a 2019 season in which he picked up his 700th career victory and led the Pirates to the California Community College Athletic Association championship for the fourth time. He was also named an American Baseball Coaches Association National Coach of the Year.

"He kind of gets overshadowed by Kobe a little bit, but he was his own Kobe of the junior college baseball world," OCC associate baseball coach Nate Johnson told ESPN.

“John meant so much to not only Orange Coast College, but to baseball,” Coast Athletic Director Jason Kehler said in a statement. “He truly personified what it means to be a baseball coach. The passion that he put into the game, but more importantly his athletes, was second to none — he treated them like family. Our deepest condolences go out to the Altobelli family during this time of tragedy.”

Mauser was tearfully remembered by her husband, Matt Mauser, in a phone interview on TODAY Monday.

"She was just an amazing person,'' he said. "Beautiful, smart, funny."

She was a teacher at a private school and an assistant coach under Bryant for his daughter's travel team, which had become a tight-knit group.

"They were amazing people in their own right,'' Mauser said about the other victims of the crash. "I knew them well. They were wonderful, they were warm, they loved their kids."