Grand jury declines to indict Travis Scott and other organizers in deadly 2021 Astroworld Festival tragedy
Originally Published: 29 JUN 23 17:16 ET
Updated: 29 JUN 23 17:24 ET
By Rosa Flores, Andy Rose Alli Rosenbloom, CNN
(CNN) — Travis Scott – the rapper and producer who organized the ill-fated 2021 Astroworld Festival– will not be indicted in connection a crowd crush that left ten people dead and injured hundreds, District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Thursday.
A grand jury also decided not to indict additional people connected to the festival who were part of the police investigation, including chief of security John Junnell and festival director Brett Silberstein.
“In this instance, the grand jury of the 228th District Court of Harris County found that no crime did occur, that no single individual was criminally responsible,” Ogg said.
The victims died of “compression asphyxia,” according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. The youngest victim was nine years old. Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Scott and other organizers, including the entertainment company Live Nation. The defendants have denied the allegations that negligence in the planning and promotion of the festival contributed to the deaths.
“While waiting patiently for the District Attorney’s decision to not file charges, Travis Scott has been inaccurately and wrongly singled out, despite stopping the show three separate times and being unaware of the events as they were unfolding,” Scott’s spokesperson Ted Anastasiou told CNN Thursday. “Now that this chapter is closed, we hope for the government efforts to focus on what is most important - stopping future heartbreaking tragedies like Astroworld from ever occurring again.”
“Criminally speaking there is no case,” Scott’s attorney, Kent Schaffer told CNN by phone.
Schaffer delivered the news to Scott, who is out of the country for a concert.
“He is ecstatic. It’s a huge weight that has been removed from his shoulders. He’s looking forward to getting back home after being cleared by the grand jury,” Schaffer told CNN.
The grand jury met for six hours and homicide detectives testified, according to Schaffer.
Developing story…
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