Photo: Rolling Stone / Christian Bertrand / Shutterstock
He suffered brain trauma after being trampled.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Nov 30, 2021
The family of Ezra Blount, the youngest fatality at Astroworld, will not be accepting Travis Scott's offer to cover funeral expenses.
The 9-year-old boy died days after being injured at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival on Friday Nov. 5.
The Blount family's lawyer responded to Scott's letter of remorse in which he offered to cover funeral expenses, an offer the rapper has reportedly extended to all victims' families.
“Your client’s offer is declined. I have no doubt Mr Scott feels remorse. His journey ahead will be painful. He must face and hopefully see that he bears some of the responsibility for this tragedy,” the lawyer wrote.
Ezra Blount was the 10th death in the Astroworld tragedy.
He had been in a medically induced coma, after the event, in an attempt to treat brain trauma sustained at the concert but, tragically, did not pull through.
The little boy had gone to the Houston performance to “see his favorite artist,” according to his grandfather, Bernon Blount, and had attended the concert with his father, Treston Blount.
"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," said the family's attorney in a statement after Ezra's death.
Ezra had been on his father’s shoulders during the concert, but when the people in the crowd began to push and crush each other, Treston had passed out and his son fell.
When he woke up, Ezra had already been taken to the hospital as a John Doe.
The family frantically called around to local hospitals in an attempt to find Ezra before locating him at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Doctors at the hospital said that Ezra suffered severe swelling in his brain and went into cardiac arrest either at the concert or on his way to the hospital.
“The crowd just started going crazy and Treston goes ‘I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe,’” Ezra’s aunt, Taylor Blount, said in an interview on the TODAY show.
The Blount family are seeking justice.
The family is now calling out the concert organizers for failing to assure the safety of attendees, as well as asking for accountability, not just from the artist or the event planners, but also from the city of Houston.
The two-day festival, founded by Travis Scott, was cut short on Friday night after chaos ensued in the crowd, leaving ten people dead and hundreds more injured.
The Blount family also filed a lawsuit against the Travis Scott and Live Nation prior to Ezra's death for the horrific injuries he faced while atending Astroworld. It will be one of 20 announced or filed over the deaths and injuries of attendees at the event.
The parents of Ezra Blount have hired attorneys Ben Crump of Ben Crump Law and Alex and Bob Hilliard of Hilliard Martinez Gonzalez to represent Ezra.
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," a statement from Crump said.
In their statement, Live Nation, the organizers of Astroworld, said that they “will continue working to provide as much information and assistance as possible to the local authorities as they investigate the situation.”
Ezra Blount's GoFundMe is gaining support.
His family established the GoFundMe to support Ezra’s recovery but are still collecting funds after his passing..
Since the tragedy that happened at Astroworld, Travis Scott has spoken out about the devastation, saying he “could never imagine something like this just happening.”
“My fans really mean the world to me, and I always just really want to leave them with a positive experience,” Scott said in an Instagram story the day after Astroworld. “Any time I can make out ... anything that's going on, I'd stop the show and ... help them get the help they need."
The rapper later vowed to cover the funeral expenses of the people who were killed — an offer the Blount family has now refused — as well as working with law enforcement to identify and connect with concertgoers.
The move is described as "the first of many steps Travis plans on taking as a part of his personal vow to assist those affected throughout their grieving and recovery process."
It’s people, like Ezra Blount, who deserve accountability for the horrible circumstances surrounding the crowd surge at Astroworld.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.