Sony Music Holdings has been ordered to pay 160 million dollars (132.8 million pounds) in damages after two people died at a Cousin Stizz concert in Atlanta.
The incident happened in November 2017 at The Masquerade Venue after a man allegedly opened fire on the crowd, reports HotNewHipHop.
Jonathan Bautista was later arrested and charged with two counts of murder after two people – Giovan DÃaz and Ewell Ynoa – died from injuries sustained that night.
After a hearing on December 15 this year, a judge partially found Sony Music guilty of failing to protect concertgoers. The amount awarded also included two other consolidated cases sued by Sony on similar grounds.
The lawsuit was filed by the Beasley Allen Law Firm in June 2018. Sony, RCA Records, Live Nation, and Masquerade were named as defendants. In a statement, Beasley Allen explained how the verdict was reached.
“Of course, situations like this don’t happen often. This was a serious shooting at a crowded concert,” the firm said. “There were multiple deaths, and Gio and Wells suffered a lot before they lost the fight for life, as eyewitnesses showed. The trial was extremely emotional for what these families lost, and the world.”
Allen continued: “One of these men was told he was going to be a father just hours before the shooting happened. Combine that with the fact that the concert put the whole world at risk, and the this defendant participate in the lawsuit. process, and you will get the kind of verdict that we saw here.”
The funds will be used to compensate the families of the victims. Sony does not yet control the verdict.
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