HOUSTON — The parents of John Hilgert have filed a lawsuit against Travis Scott and the artist's music production company, Cactus Jack Records.
Richard Mithoff, who is representing Hilgert's family, said the teen's death demands more than punitive damages but also change.
The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday at a Houston district court, accuses Astroworld Festival organizers and promoters of gross negligence. It lists more than a dozen defendants including Scott, Live Nation, Scoremore, Valle Security Texas and others.
Hilgert, a 14-year-old freshman at Memorial High School, was among the youngest of 10 people killed at Astroworld Festival.
“He was a beautiful young man who simply wanted to enjoy his first concert event with friends, whom he treasured spending time with more than anything else,” father Chris Hilgert said.
Mithoff is also representing John's best friend, who the attorney says was also trampled at the concert but was pulled to safety. They were standing next to each other when the crowd surge began, the lawsuit stated.
The Hilgerts said they hope to transform the way concerts are organized from security requirements, medical facilities available to the removal of mosh pits.
"Our sole aim in filing this lawsuit is to prevent this type of tragedy from ever happening again at a live concert,” Hilgert said. “There is no excuse for the poor crowd design, event execution and lack of response that was exercised at this festival that resulted in the tragic death of our son and nine others along with scores of other people that were innocently injured.”
The lawsuit said that John Hilgert suffered both mental and physical pain before his death; meanwhile, his parents continue to suffer from emotional pain and torment from the loss of their child.
“If this lawsuit prevents even one family from having to go through the extreme pain and anguish that we have endured, then it is the least we can do to honor John’s memory,” Chris Hilgert said.