Meek Mill, Roc Nation Sued By Murdered Concertgoer’s Family
Meek Mill, Roc Nation and Live Nation are among those named as defendants in a lawsuit brought by the family of Jaquan Graves, who was murdered on December 30th, 2016 outside a Meek Mill concert at Toyota Oakdale Theatre in Connecticut. The venue is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, “a melee ensued shortly after the Meek Mill performance in the parking area within the confines of the Oakdale facilities, when armed assailant(s) who had attended the Meek Mill concert, discharged firearm(s).” The complaint claims Graves did not participate in the disruption and was unarmed at the time of the incident, and that he was shot and killed by one of the participants while on the Oakdale’s property.
According to police on the night of the incident, the events took place outside the venue and “it appeared to be near closing, the closing of the event.” Four men were shot. Two of the men, Graves and Travis Ward, were killed in the shooting. Earlier this year, Ward’s family also filed a lawsuit, according to the Hartford Courant.
The suit claims that the defendants “allowed thugs to remain on the defendant’s premises, after exhibiting disorderly, disruptive, argumentative, angry and/or agitated behavior towards patrons.” It also claims that reasonable measures were not taken to protect patrons, that there wasn’t adequate security presence on the night of the concert and that reasonable measures were not taken after the alleged disorderly and disruptive behavior ensued towards patrons, which ended in violence.
A rep for Live Nation referred Rolling Stone to Roc Nation. Reps for Roc Nation and Oakdale Theatre declined to comment. A rep for Meek Mill did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The suit also cited Meek Mill’s lyrics as a measure to “incite violence” and “encourage the use of deadly weapons” and cited other shootings that have allegedly taken place previously near his concerts as further evidence of negligence.
Meek Mill was recently sentenced to up to four years in prison for violating probation. On Tuesday, the rapper’s emergency request to grant him bail was denied, but on Wednesday the appeals court ordered a Philadelphia judge to act “without further delay” on the rapper’s bail petition, which was filed two weeks ago, CBS News reports.