Another Family Sues Live Nation For Death At Rave

The mother of a 19-year-old girl who'd died from a drug overdose at a Hard Summer rave in August 2014 has filed a lawsuit against concert promoter Live Nation, reports the L.A. Times.

Emily Michelle Tran, a resident of Anaheim, was at the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area for the event when she started having seizures, reports LA Weekly. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital. A coroner's report found that she had died of an overdose from ecstasy.

Emily's mother, Julie, had filed earlier this month a lawsuit that claims that Live Nation "turned a blind eye" when it was well-known that raves promote the use and distribution of illicit substances. The suit says that, by failing to staff the event with enough security, promoters had failed to dissuade the use of drugs. The plaintiffs also alleged that the company "knowingly oversold the event and created an atmosphere that was overattended, overcrowded and dangerous."

After a recent string of deaths, drug use at raves has been brought into the spotlight. Two more drug-related deaths occurred at another Hard Summer festival at the Pomona Fairgrounds in August of 2015, a year after Tran's death. The family of one of the deceased, Katie Dix, has also filed a lawsuit against Live Nation. Like Julie Tran, Dix's family also alleged that the event was understaffed, and that promoters had neglected their responsibility to protect concert-goers.

Last month, at this year's Hard Summer festival at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, 3 people died during the 2-day concert. The causes of their deaths are still under investigation.

Since 2006, there have been at least 25 drug-related deaths at raves promoted by L.A. based companies, reports the L.A. Times. Twelve of the deaths occurred in Southern California, while six happened in the Las Vegas area. The majority of the deceased were under 25-years-old.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor had once considered a ban on raves, citing the incidents of overdose deaths. The board later scrapped the plan, choosing instead to go with an ordinance that reviews "mass gathering events"—events that are expected to draw 10,000 people or more— on a case-by-case basis.