The father of a 9-year-old child who remains in critical condition after being trampled at the Astroworld festival is suing Travis Scott and the festival’s organizers, including Live Nation Entertainment and Scott’s Cactus Jack Productions.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Harris County, Texas, and obtained by TheWrap, accuses the defendants of negligence in crowd control, failure to provide proper medical attention, hiring, training, supervision and retention, among other acts of negligence. The plaintiff is seeking a jury trial and $1 million in monetary relief for the “negligent and grossly negligent conduct” of the defendants.
The suit was filed by Treston Blount, the father of a child identified on GoFundMe as Ezra Blount, who Houston authorities on Saturday confirmed was in critical condition after sustaining injuries at the Astroworld festival as a result of a crowd surge (the child’s age was previously reported as 10 years old). Eight people, including two teenagers, were killed at the festival, and 25 were hospitalized.
Ezra according to the suit was “kicked, stepped on, and trampled, and nearly crushed to death.” It also adds that individuals were seen lifting unconscious bodies of friends and strangers and crowd surfing them to safety. It also alleges that the defendants failed to stop Travis Scott’s performance until over 40 minutes after city officials said the “mass casualty event” had begun.
Houston’s fire department chief had previously said that the concert was suspended at 10:10 p.m. An investigation is still ongoing as to what caused the crowd surge.
The suit says that Ezra sustained life-threatening injuries and is hospitalized in a medically induced coma on life support in an attempt to combat his brain, liver and kidney trauma, saying they are likely “catastrophic” and suspect will have life-long effects.
Representatives for Scott, Cactus Jack Productions and Live Nation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This young child and his family will face life-altering trauma from this day forward, a reality that nobody expects when they buy concert tickets. Concerts and music festivals such as this are meant to be a safe place for people of all ages to enjoy music in a controlled environment. None of that was true about the Astroworld Festival,” plaintiff attorney Ben Crump said in a statement. “This little boy is currently fighting for his life, and his parents will never know the same child they entered Astroworld with.”
“We plan to hold everyone who had a hand in this festival accountable for the horrifying and traumatic injuries that this helpless child sustained,” another plaintiff attorney, Alex Hilliard, said in a statement. “Organizers have a duty and responsibility to protect their patrons and control the crowd when it gets out of control. It is outrageous that it took as long as it did to stop the show, as many of these deaths and injuries likely could have been prevented or mitigated.”
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.