One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Parents Of Teen Girl Who Died At Rave Sue Live Nation, L.A. County Fair Assn.
The parents of a teenage girl who died at a rave in Pomona last year have filed a claim against the L.A. County Fair Association and Live Nation.
Katie Dix, 19, died of a drug overdose while attending HARD Summer at the Pomona Fairgrounds in August of 2015. She was found unresponsive and later suffered a heart attack after taking what, according to the suit, she believed was "pure Molly." Her parents, Mark and Pamela Dix, filed the suit Friday in L.A. Superior Court, claiming that event promoter Live Nation and the L.A. County Fair Association failed to protect guests from illegal drugs, which they should have known such an event would attract, the L.A. Times reports. The suit also alleges that L.A. County was negligent in that it allowed "a dangerous condition" to occur on its property.
The suit alleged that due to the low number of staff compared to the high number of attendees, medical response was slow. Had it been more timely, the Dixes believe their daughter might have survived.
Katie Dix was one of two drug-related fatalities at last summer's event, and an additional 49 people were sent to emergency rooms. The deaths inspired L.A. County to consider a temporary ban on raves, similar to one imposed at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum after a teen girl died at an event in 2010. Several ER doctors were in support of a ban, saying that the combination of dancing, high temperatures and drug and alcohol use makes raves extremely dangerous. Dr. Brian Johnston, chair of the emergency medicine department at White Memorial Medical Center, said that he was seeing teenagers brought into the hospital suffering heart attacks. "You don't see that from other events. This is a different kind of animal," he said.
In March, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors ultimately decided not to ban raves, instead deciding to impose an ordinance that allows each "mass gathering" to be evacuated case-by-case, according to Fox 11.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
