Nearly two years after the Astroworld Festival led to a tragedy that killed 10 people, the recent ruling of the grand jury that Travis Scott was not criminally responsible for the crowd crush left a sour taste in the mouth.
The Harris County grand jury ruled that Scott cannot be indicted as he was not responsible for the deaths of 10 attendees ages 9 to 27, who died after suffering compression asphyxia. The Houston Police also released a 1,300-page report that detailed what happened before, during, and after the rapper's performance, but the bereaved families are still seeking justice.
Travis Scott's Team Branded "Tone-Deaf"
Scott released his first-ever album, "Utopia," since the Astroworld Festival tragedy. The rapper's lawyer recently slammed the Houston police for trying to affect and hurt the album sales by releasing the findings of the probe on the same timeline.
In an exclusive interview with a news outlet, a lawyer for the family of the 10-year-old victim blasted the rapper's team and hit back at his representative's "tone-deaf" comments regarding Astroworld and the album release.
"For an artist making his living with music, these are stunningly tone-deaf comments about this preventable tragedy that took so many lives and injured so many," said Bob Hilliard, the attorney representing Ezra Blount's family.
Blount was the 10th and youngest person to die from injuries he sustained after attending the Astroworld Festival in 2021. His father said at that time that his doctors induced a coma in the victim to prevent further brain damage and control his brain's swelling. He was trampled when he lost consciousness during the crowd rush.
The other nine victims included Bharti Shahani, John Hilgert, Brianna Rodriguez, Franco Patino, Jacob Jurinek, Danish Baig, Axel Acosta, Rodolfo Peña, and Madison Dubisko.
What Travis Scott's Team "Insensitively" Said About Album
Scott's lawyer, attorney Kent Schaffer, accused the police of issuing the results of the 18-month investigation to scuttle "Utopia" sales. However, the Houston Police has since dismissed the accusations and said that the release of the report was a coincidence.
Although the rapper was not inducted on criminal charges, he is still dealing with countless lawsuits filed by the victims' families. According to District Attorney Kim Ogg, the grand jury's "determination has no impact on the many civil lawsuits pending."
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