Youngest Injured Astroworld Victim, Dallas 9-Year-Old Ezra Blount Dies A Week After Travis Scott Show
HOUSTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The youngest victim injured at the Astroworld Music Festival in Houston, Ezra Blount, 9, is the second person to die from the concert this week, and the tenth overall from the catastrophe. Bharti Shahani, 22, passed away on Nov. 11 after spending her last days on a ventilator in critical condition.
KTRK TV reported the child's death after speaking to his family.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted his condolences, saying he was "saddened to learn of Ezra's death this evening. Our city tonight prays for his mom, dad, grandparents, other family members and classmates at this time. They will need all of our support in the months and years to come. May God give them strength. RIP Ezra."
Ezra traveled from North Texas to the concert in Houston with his dad, Treston Blount. The grandfather of the child, Bernon Blount, said his son was carrying Ezra on his shoulders when he was crushed by the crowd and passed out, sending the little boy tumbling to the ground. He was trampled and according to relatives had damage to his organs, swelling on his brain and at some point went into cardiac arrest.
Terecia Blount, the boy's grandmother said, "The trampling over, the pushing... or whatever that was going on that caused all the severe injuries to the grandson is something that I don't have words for," she said. "I don't know how they could have allowed those things to happen to him or anyone else's child."
The family has hired attorney Ben Crump, who issued a statement.
"The Blount family tonight is grieving the ultimate, incomprehensible loss of their precious young son," the attorneys said in a statement. "This should not have been the outcome of taking their son to a concert, a joyful celebration. 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."
Numerous lawsuits were filed against the event and rappers Scott and Drake, after eight people died the night of the show as a result of the intense crowd surge.
Scott has said he will pay for the funeral expenses of the victims and said he was "absolutely devastated by what took place."
