A year on from the Astroworld crowd crush that killed 10, victims prepare for their day in court: ‘We just want justice’

With a police investigation into the 5 November 2021 tragedy unresolved, thousands of victims are preparing to hold Travis Scott, Live Nation and organisers accountable in court next month. Bevan Hurley reports

(Handouts)

For Maria De Los Angeles Pena, nothing could fill the void left by the death of her son Rudy.

“There is no longer any colour or happiness in my life,” she tells The Independent from her home in Laredo, Texas.

“There is nothing like losing a child, it’s the strongest pain there is.”

Rodolfo “Rudy” Pena, 23, a college student and aspiring model, was one of 10 victims aged from nine to 27 who were crushed to death in a crowd surge during Travis Scott’s performance at his hometown festival on 5 November 2021.

Around 50,000 fans bought tickets to the first day of the two-day event, and within minutes of gates opening that afternoon ticketless fans storming the gates throughout check points lost control.

Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Pena played football, basketball and track at Nixon High School in Laredo Texas (Courtesy of Pena family)

Travis Scott at the Astroworld Music Festival in Houston on 5 November 2021. (2021 Invision)

When Travis Scott took to the stage just after 9pm, the crowd pressed forward leading to a crush at the tightly packed front.

Fans continued to surge forward even as panicked people were being trampled underneath. Scott paused the show briefly several times after seeing some in the audience in trouble, before continuing the performance and urging fans to “make the ground shake”, according to eyewitness accounts.

Hip-hop artist Drake joined Scott on stage at around 10pm to perform several songs, sending the crowd into feverish response as emergency responders desperately tried to reach and evacuate the injured and dying.

Scott played on for 37 minutes after a “mass casualty” event had been declared, the a Houston Chronicle report found.

By the time the concert ended at around 10.10pm, the first victims were already being pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Maria De Los Angeles Pena holds a photo of her son Rudy, who was crushed in the Astroworld tragedy on 5 November 2021 (Courtesy of Pena family)

Scott, who organised the lineup, would later say he wasn’t aware of the mayhem unfolding, and expressed sympathy for the victims the next day.

With a police investigation into the tragedy unresolved, thousands of victims are preparing for their day in court next month that experts estimate will see Scott, Live Nation and organisers forced to pay out hundreds of millions in damages.

‘He always dreamt about being a boss’

A tearful Ms De Los Angeles Pena this week remembered her son Rudy as a spirited, independent-minded child.

One of five siblings, he lost his father in an accident at the age of seven. He became a hardworking, popular student and a gifted athlete who threw himself into basketball, football and track at Nixon High School in Laredo.

Rudy Pena threw himself into sports at Nixon High School in Laredo, Texas (Courtesy of Pena family)

“Anything that he set his mind to, he did, ever since he was a young boy,” his mother tells The Independent.

“He won so many medals, so many certificates. He was loved by all his teachers, all his friends. I don’t know where he got his energy from.”

Rudy had been studying towards a diploma in physical therapy and had ambitions to run his own business.

“He always dreamt about being a boss,” Ms De Los Angeles Pena says.

Rudy had been excited about going to the Astroworld festival in Houston, she says. He had aspirations of becoming a social media influencer and hoped the festival could help him attract followers.

After his death, 2,000 came to his funeral, his mother says.

Ms De Los Angeles Pena has kept Rudy’s room in the family home in Laredo just as he it was on the day he left for Houston.

Rudy Pena was a gifted high school athlete (Courtesy of Pena family)

Photographs from his football days, trophies and awards from his sporting and academic pursuits adorn the walls. His clothes remain neatly tucked away.

She was Rudy’s “mama bear”, she says.

“We were a united family, we supported each other,” she says.

She no longer enjoys socialising with friends, and visits Rudy’s grave every day.

“I miss him so much. We were always together.”

‘We just want justice’

Around 2,400 festivalgoers required medical attention for injuries during the event at NRG Park in Houston on 5 November, according to court filings.

A pregnant woman who lost her unborn child in the days after the event has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Many others were left with permanent injuries.

Some 4,900 individuals have filed damages claims against Scott, Live Nation and other parties, and have had their cases consolidated before a single judge in Harris County, Texas.

The families of two of the victims, Axel Acosta, 21, and 16-year-old victim Brianna Rodriguez, made confidential settlements with Scott and Live Nation last month.

The FBI and Houston Police Department launched a criminal investigation into the tragedy.

This week a Houston PD spokeswoman told The Independent the investigation into the tragedy remains ongoing.

The Pena family are steeling themselves  for next month’s trial, where they are likely to hear painful details about Rudy’s final moments.

Rudy Pena was crushed to death at the Astroworld festival (Courtesy of Pena family)

Ms De Los Angeles Pena says she is frustrated by the lack of communication from the Scott’s representatives.

“We just want justice so that no other mothers have to go through what we’ve experienced.”

If she has the chance to address Scott directly, Ms De Los Angeles Pena says she would tell him about the vast hole that he has left in their lives.

“I would say that he should take more care with their concerts and there is nothing more than respecting life. They left a very large hole in our lives. Something that should have never happened.”

She says she would like to speak to the other families who lost sons and daughters Astroworld but hasn’t been able to.

“I would like to give them a hug and support them, so that we can share the pain we feel for our lost family members.”

Madison’s legacy

Madison Dubiski was a former Ole Miss student and big Travis Scott fan who had gone to the festival with her younger brother (Facebook/Madison Alexis Dubiski)

By the time she had finished high school, Madison Dubiski had completed more than of 500 hours volunteering for different non-profits.

The 23-year-old from Cypress, Texas, was a Varsity cheerleader at Cy-Fair High School, University of Mississippi alumni and member of National Charity League, a community service organisation for mothers and their daughters in middle and high school.

Dubiski attended the Astroworld festival with her brother Ty, and died after they were pulled apart in the crowd, according to a Houston Chronicle report.

Frriends and family set up a memorial at the NRG Stadium of her favourite colour pink to her and the other victims who died.

Her family discussed ways to honour her legacy, and decided to launch the Pink Bows Foundation to heighten awareness of safety protocols at large events.

Peter Remington, a close Dubiski family friend and the board president of the Pink Bows Foundation, told The Independent that with better planning the Astroworld tragedy could have been avoided.

“We’re saying we need greater safety protocol and we need to do things differently,” Mr Remington says.

“With proper exit strategies for the attendees, we might have been able to avoid this tragedy.”

Ezra Blount, 9, the youngest victim of Astroworld music festival posting before the event in a picture provided by his mother (AP)

Franco Patino, 21, was killed in the Astroworld crowd surge (Facebook/Franco Patino)

John Hilgert, 14, was the second-youngest victim of the Astroworld Festival tragedy (Instagram)

In February, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner set up a task force to look into ways to improve safety at events.

Mr Remington tells The Independent that they’ve seen not heard any more from the mayor’s office.

So they took matters into their own hands and established the foundation to act as an independent safety adviser to concert promoters, and put in safe spaces at festivals.

Having the ability to raise the alarm quickly in the event of an emergency would help save lives.

“No parent should ever think that their kid might not come home because of what happened at Astroworld.”

Brianna Rodriguez, a passionate dancer and high school student from Houston, was killed at Astroworld (GoFundMe/Brianna Rodriguez)

Mirza Danish Baig, one of the victims of the Astroworld festival, died while saving his fiancee (Facebook/ Danish Baig)

Jacob Jurinek, a college student from Naperville, Illinois, was killed at Astroworld alongside his high school friend (LinkedIn)

What’s at stake in next month’s court case

Los Angeles-based personal injury attorney Miguel Custodio tells The Independent that concert promoters have done nothing to improve safety at large events since Astroworld.

“They consistently put profits over safety and this is just absolutely disgusting.”

This includes a lack of crowd control management planning, insufficient security, paramedics and other safety personnel on hand at many concerts and festivals.

“Until they change their ways, these tragedies will remain a very real threat,” he says.

By consolidating all of the cases before a single judge, the victims are likely to have their case resolved faster, he says.

He expects Scott, Live Nation and other event organisers will face a settlement bill in the high hundreds of millions of dollars, but less than the $800m that MGM Resorts International and their insures had to pay out for the Las Vegas shooting in 2017.

Bharti Shahani died from the injuries she suffered at Astroworld (Facebook/Bharti Shahani)

Axel Acosta, 21, was killed in the Astroworld tragedy (GoFundMe)

The fact that the police investigation remains unresolved could work against the plaintiffs, as it could have proven that the defendants failed to take the necessary steps to prevent the tragedy.  

He wants to see Government entities held to account for their negligence.

“Unlike in the South Korea Halloween disaster, where no single organiser was responsible for bringing all those young people together, the Astroworld tragedy presents a more clear-cut legal case for obtaining damages because this was an event that was planned and should have been safe.”