Family of 9-year-old Astroworld victim turns down rapper’s offer to pay for funeral

(KLTV) -The family of a 9-year-old boy who died after injuries he suffered at an Astroworld concert in November has declined Travis Scott’s offer to pay for their son’s funeral.

In a letter from Scott’s attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, to the family’s legal representation, Petrocelli shares the rapper’s “deepest sympathies and condolences” to Ezra Blount’s father and express how he “grieves the families whose loved ones died or were injured.” Petrocelli added that Scott would like to pay for the Blounts’ funeral expenses.

In his legal team’s response, Treston Blount, Ezra’s father who lives in Tyler and also attended the concert, turned down the rapper’s request.

“The loss of a child is like a faucet of unimaginable pain that has no off handle,” stated Robert Hilliard, one of Blount’s attorneys. “To lose a child in the manner Treston lost Ezra compounds the pain — as a parent, Treston cannot help but agonize over the terrible idea that Ezra’s last minutes were filled with terror, suffering, suffocation, and worst of all surrounded by strangers, his dad unconscious underneath the uncontrolled crowd.

“I have no doubt Mr. Scott feels remorse,” the response continued. “His journey ahead will be painful. He must face and hopefully see that he bears some of the responsibility for this tragedy.”

Hilliard said he hoped for “redemption and growth” for Scott and that after healing and “acceptance of responsibility” maybe Blount and Scott could meet.

“For now, Mr. Scott must respect the fact that his pain and his devastation pale to Treston’s, Ezra’s mom, and the other victims,” he wrote.

Ezra was placed in a medically-induced coma after suffering serious injuries in the Nov. 5 crush of fans during a performance by the festival’s headliner, rapper Travis Scott.

He was the 10th person who attended the festival to die.

The child incurred severe damage to his brain, kidney, and liver after being “kicked, stepped on, and trampled, and nearly crushed to death,” according to a lawsuit his family has filed against Scott and the event’s organizer, Live Nation. The Blount family is seeking at least $1 million in damages.

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Copyright 2021 KLTV. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this story.