The music industry suffered a loss after the tragic murder of Drakeo the Ruler, who was brutally stabbed to death at a concert in Los Angeles.
Rolling Stone spoke to the mother of the rapper’s five-year-old son, who is planning to sue the event promoters. Drakeo the Ruler died following his performance at the Once Upon A Time in L.A. festival in December last year.
Tianna Purtue said she is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the festival’s organizers, Live Nation, on Monday (Jan. 31). Indie promoters C3 Presents, Bobby Dee Presents, and Jeffrey Shuman will also be named in the lawsuit. The family’s lawyers say they will be seeking at least $20 million in damages.
Purtue said her legal team played a recording during a press conference on Thursday (Jan. 27) which reportedly shows the backstage attack on Drakeo the Ruler. She has also heard reports of an earlier attack on the rapper minutes before the fatal stabbing.
Drakeo The Ruler Was “Targeted” Says Attorney
“It just makes no sense,” Purtue told Rolling Stone. “There was no security in sight. No one was there to help until the absolute last moment where he’s fighting for his life. That’s when EMT comes around.”
She continued, “Where was security? Where were they? Where was their post?” She questioned the absence of backstage security and said “He’s supposed to be protected as an artist. He’s coming to do a show for his fans, and he’s not even protected. It just doesn’t make sense.”
James Bryant, Purtue’s lawyer, claimed the video shows Drakeo ambushed by at least 40 people. Furthermore, he only had a small entourage with him, and there was no security around. Furthermore, “the fence that separates the public from the artists was opened like it was a wide-open door. They were opening it and closing it like it was a door,” he said.
Bryant said that though Drakeo the Ruler was not a gang member, the concert was held in an area with deep ties to gangs, South Los Angeles. However, he said as Drakeo was at one time acquitted of the murder of an Inglewood Family Blood, concert promoters should have taken the location into consideration.
“I looked at that video, and I saw a sea of red. I don’t know if it was specifically gang-related, but I can tell you that all of those people attacking him were dressed in red, and that to me signifies that they were probably Bloods,” Bryant said. “If you look at the video, 40 to 60 people attacked this man who basically had no one there to help him. It was truly a modern-day lynching. They targeted him, knew what they wanted, and achieved their goal.”