The family of a man gunned down at a popular Atlanta music venue is suing the company behind it and all involved in that night's entertainment.
Lawyers from the Beasley Allen Law Firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of 21-year-old Ewell Ynoa who was shot and killed the night of Nov. 12, 2017, at Masquerade. The venue had recently relocated to Underground Atlanta from its longtime location in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward when the crime occurred.
PHOTOS | Fatal shooting at Masquerade concert venue
On the night Ynoa died, he was attending a Cousin Stizz concert when a person described by the lawyers as a "deranged individual" entered the venue and opened fire into the crowd after some of the concert-goers climbed on stage. Ynoa and three others were hit.
The gunfire ultimately led to Ynoa's death as well as one other.
"This was a tragic situation that shook the City of Atlanta, adding to a long line of senseless shooting deaths that our country is becoming numb to,” said Parker Miller, a lawyer with the Beasley Allen Law Firm.
Masquerade, Inc, RCA Records, Live Nation Entertainment, Sony Music Holdings Inc and the real estate investment firm behind Underground Atlanta, WRS, Inc., were among several people or companies named as defendants in the lawsuit.
The suit alleges that the defendants failed to ensure that the premises were safe for guests or de-escalate the incident before it "spiraled out of control." They added that the defendants failed to warn the victim of the dangerous present at the location.
The lawsuit also calls out the CEO of Masquerade for not providing a location free of "dangerous objects and violent individuals."
Counts against various defendants include negligence and wrongful death leading to a request for the recovery of punitive damages.
The lawsuit requests a trial by jury to decide what those damages will mean in terms of financial compensation.
