Lawyers for the concert promoter and venue where singer Christina Grimmie was murdered in 2016 by an obsessed fan were due in court earlier this week, where they asked the judge to throw out her family’s lawsuit.
In June 2016, Grimmie, the aspiring pop star known for her performance and third place finish on The Voice, was shot to death at The Palace Live in Orlando, Florida while signing autographs. The shooter brought two Glock pistols and a hunting knife into the venue, however, once Grimmie’s brother tackled him, he took his own life.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Grimmie’s parents are filing suit against the venue, claiming that their daughter’s death could have been prevented if there were more security measures in place. That night, only fans’ bags were checked, but they were not screened before going inside with metal detectors or wands. Brian Caplan, an attorney for the Grimmie family, explained that the venue was previously known for screening concertgoers before the show, yet the night Grimmie died, these measures weren’t implemented. The venue and concert promoters said that their normal security procedures weren’t in place since most of the crowd was teenage girls.
An attorney for the concert promoter AEG, Todd Ehrenreich, said that since Christina Grimmie had not signed a contract with the concert promoter, they were therefore not responsible for her safety and resulted death. The lawyer representing the family suspected that the singer must have had a verbal contract with AEG, and argued that she is not here now to explain the terms of that oral agreement. Lawyers for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, which owns The Palace Live, added that there was no way to foresee the shooting.
“This is a tragedy,” Ehrenreich said. “This is horrible for the family. But AEG had no responsibility. That is the basis of all of their accusations — a contract that doesn’t exist.”
Circuit Judge Kevin B. Weiss has yet to make a ruling, saying that it may take a few weeks for him to come to a decision.
