The youngest fan to die from injuries related to a crowd surge at the Houston-based Astroworld music festival lived in Tyler, according to a lawsuit filed against the concert organizers.
Erza Blount, 9, died Sunday after he was severely injured at the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park on Nov. 5, according to a statement from personal injury attorneys Ben Crump and co-counsel Alex Hilliard and Bob Hilliard, and Paul Grink.
Ezra was attending the festival with his father Treston Blount when the crowd surge incident occurred while rapper Travis Scott performed. According to the Associated Press, Ezra is the 10th festival attendee to die.
While Ezra was still hospitalized, Crump and the other attorneys filed a lawsuit against Scott, Live Nation Entertainment, Cactus Jack Records and others involved with hosting the festival.
The complaint against the organizers claims they were negligent in preparing for crowd control, failed to provide proper medical attention, hiring, training, supervision and retention, that contributed to Ezra’s death.
Ezra was placed in a medically-induced coma on life support as doctors worked to combat his brain, liver and kidney trauma, according to Crump's statement.
“The Blount family tonight is grieving the incomprehensible loss of their precious young son. This should not have been the outcome of taking their son to a concert, what should have been a joyful celebration," Crump and the other attorneys said in a statement. "Ezra’s death is absolutely heartbreaking. We are committed to seeking answers and justice for the Blount family. But tonight we stand in solidarity with the family, in grief, and in prayer.”
The lawsuit filed in Harris County court states Treston Blount, who is representing his underage son, is seeking monetary relief of over $1 million for the "negligent and grossly negligent conduct" of Scott, Live Nation and others.
According to the complaint, both Treston and Ezra Blount live in Tyler.
On a GoFundMe page, Treston Blount began a fundraiser roughly a week ago to raise money for Ezra's medical bills. As of Tuesday afternoon, the page had received over $95,000 of the requested $200,000. More than 3,000 people have made a donation.
Treston Blount shared the circumstances of his son's injuries on the GoFundMe page. He said Erza was sitting on his shoulders at the concert when he began to be crushed until he couldn’t breathe.
The father passed out and when he woke up, Ezra was missing until the boy was later found at the hospital with severe brain damage and trauma to nearly all of his organs, according to the GoFundMe page.
The document accuses Scott and the organizers of failing to stop the crowd surge until more than 40 minutes after city officials said the "mass casualty event” had begun. When the lawsuit was filed on Nov. 8, Ezra's injuries were described as "catastrophic."
"To his young, growing body, these injuries will have life-long effects, impairing his qualify of life and ability to grow and thrive as he would have had he not been subjected to this incident," the document reads.
Ezra relied on owners and operators of the venue, producers, promoters, performers and subcontractors, which includes security to maintain crowd control and medical staffing, to protect those attending the concert, the lawsuit states.
"However, defendants egregiously failed in their duty to protect the health, safety, and lives of those in attendance at the concert, including but not limited to the failure to provide adequate security personnel to implement crowd control measures and the failure to provide a sufficient amount of emergency medical support," the lawsuit reads.
According to the AP, Scott and the event's organizers are also the focus of a criminal investigation.