DALLAS (KRLD) — As chaos erupted at the Astroworld music festival in Houston, Texas, on Nov. 5, Treston Blount fell unconscious while his his 9-year-old son Ezra sat on his shoulders. By Nov. 14, Ezra died from related injuries.
Now, the Dallas boy’s family is refusing festival founder Travis Scott’s offer to pay for Ezra’s funeral, NBC News reported Monday.
“There may be, and I hope there is, redemption and growth for him on the other side of what this painful process will be — and perhaps one day, once time allows some healing for the victims and acceptance of responsibility by Mr. Scott and others, Treston and Mr. Scott might meet — as there is also healing in that,” wrote Bob Hilliard, the family’s attorney, in a Nov. 24 email. “For now, Mr. Scott must respect the fact that his pain and his devastation pale to Treston's, Ezra's mom, and the other victims."
Hilliard said he has no doubt that Scott has remorse over Ezra's death. However, he said the rapper “must face and hopefully see that he bears some of the responsibility for this tragedy.”
Ezra was the youngest of 10 people to die at the Astroworld concert. Scott has offered to pay for the funeral expenses of all who perished.
During the fatal fall and crowd crush, Ezra suffered brain, kidney and liver trauma. He was placed in a medically induced coma. While Ezra’s family declined Scott’s offer, they are accepting GoFundMe donations to cover medical expenses. So far, $112,426 has been raised towards a $200,000 goal.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner sent the family condolences on social media.
Other families impacted by the tragedy have also refused Scott’s offer. According to the BBC, half of the victims’ families declined his gesture.
An investigation into the sudden crowd surge at the festival was still underway as of this weekend. Scott was previously arrested in 2015 for telling fans to ignore security and rush the stage.
The Blount family are also plaintiffs in one of hundreds of lawsuits filed against Scott in the wake of the fatal concert. Hilliard and fellow attorney Benjamin Crump filed 93 lawsuits representing nearly 200 plaintiffs this month. They are seeking damages from Scott and concert organizer Live Nation.
“We continue to support and assist local authorities in their ongoing investigation so that both the fans who attended and their families can get the answers they want and deserve, and we will address all legal matters at the appropriate time,” said a Live Nation spokesman Friday.
A representative for Scott declined to provide NBC News comment on the lawsuits as of Tuesday.
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