A Texas grand jury is considering criminal charges against Travis Scott for his alleged involvement in the 2021 astroworld tragedy that took place during his music festival. As we previously reported, the incident left 10 people dead and thousands more injured.
Attorney Kent Schaffer spoke with NBC News and confirmed a grand jury has convened and is considering criminal indictments against Scott and others who may have had something to do with the Astroworld deaths. “There’s no telling how long it will take but we’re confident that they will agree that Travis committed no crimes,” Schaffer said.
The panel will reportedly consider evidence to determine where there is enough to support criminal charges in the widespread investigation of what happened at Astroworld.
As we previously shared, multiple victims have filed lawsuits following the tragic incident. Shanazia Williamson and her husband, Jarawd Owens, attended the festival back in November and were trampled during the crowd surge, resulting in injuries to her back, shoulder, chest, leg, and stomach. According to TMZ, Williamson’s lawsuit claims that event staff failed “to plan, design, manage, operate, staff, and supervise the event was a direct and proximate cause of Shanazia’s injuries and death of her and Jarawd’s unborn child.” Williamson filed the lawsuit last December describing the injuries she sustained on November 21, 2021, and filed for wrongful death in an amended complaint.
The amended complaint also stated Williamson sustained injuries to her stomach but she didn’t disclose how far along she was in her pregnancy. Texas law also says if a fetus dies due to negligence, the parents have the right to sue for wrongful death.
“While in attendance at the festival, Shanazia was trampled and crushed resulting in horrific injuries and ultimately the death of her and Jarawd’s unborn child,” the suit states. “In addition, Shanazia sustained injuries to her shoulder, back, leg, chest, stomach and other parts of her body.”
Security companies Valle Services SMG, ASM Global, and Harris County Sports and Convention Corp. were also listed in the lawsuit and were accused of failing to provide adequate security measures and medical personnel. Additionally, they were also accused of failing to oversee the potential hazards during the event. The couple’s attorneys, Jason Itkin and Kurt Arnold did not release a statement about the suit due to an apparent gag order that was filed in February.
700 attendees have filed the lawsuit and said they have suffered from extensive injuries due to the crowd surge while thousands more attendees said they have sustained an injury during the festival.
Travis Scott, Live Nation, and their primary security company have denied any involvement in the incident. The rapper is expected to perform at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday which will be his first performance since the tragedy.
In light of the tragedy, the rapper also launched an initiative called “Project Heal” where the mission is “to take much-needed action towards supporting real solutions that make all events the safest spaces they can possibly be.”