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Lawsuits connected to the tragedy in Houston where eight people were killed at a Travis Scott concert at the Astroworld Festival are beginning to pour in.
Kristian Paredes, 23, is among the first to file for damages. Through her attorneys, she has charged rappers Travis Scott and Drake "incited mayhem" and said she was “severely injured.”
The lawsuit claims, the crowd estimated at 50,000 people, started pushing toward the stage as Scott performed, causing chaos.
Ben Crump, a high-profile attorney central to the George Floyd case, has filed suit against Scott and Astroworld on behalf of a nine-year-old injured at the concert. Listed as EB, Crump released a statement saying the young child suffered life-threatening injuries and is hospitalized in a medically-induced coma.
“This little boy had his whole life ahead of him,” Crump said in his statement. “A life that is currently hanging in the balance because of the reckless mismanagement that ensued at the Astroworld Festival.”
Scott, whose given name is Jacques Bermon Webster II, built his success on high-energy concerts where fans engage in mosh pits and crowd surfing.
He has had previous arrests for inciting riots at concerts, according to Newsweek. He was arrested for inciting fans to bypass security and rush the stage at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers, Arkansas in 2017. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to reckless conduct charges following an incident at that year's Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago.
Austin resident Lindsey Van Zant recalled begin forcibly pushed when Travis Scott performed at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2018.
“The first crowd that came in ended up pushing me a couple of hundred feet,” Zant told FOX29 in San Antonio. “About the third time, there was no place left to go. When I turned around, people were toppling over me, looking dazed and confused.”
Scott issued a statement on Twitter saying he was "absolutely devastated" by the tragedy.
The investigation into the tragedy continues.