The Los Angeles Football Club and a talent booking company have been dismissed as defendants in a wrongful death/negligence lawsuit filed by relatives of Drakeo the Ruler, who was stabbed to death during a star-studded 2021 concert at what was then called Banc of California Stadium in Exposition Park.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Montgomery issued his rulings Wednesday, finding that there were no triable issues against the LAFC or Bobby Dee Presents Inc. Attorneys for both defendants contended in their court papers that their clients were not responsible for keeping the late singer safe. The company was the booking agent for one of the headliners, Snoop Dogg.
Addressing the negligence cause of action, the judge said the LAFC attorneys convinced him that the plaintiffs were unable to show that the team had violated any obligation to protect their loved one. Noting that the burden then falls on the plaintiffs to show otherwise, Montgomery said the family didn’t even file an opposition.
In their court papers, Bobby Dee Presents lawyers wrote that the company did not book Drakeo, did not have any involvement in organizing or producing the festival, did not have any responsibility for hiring security or establishing and implementing a security plan for the event and did not own the land on which the concert took place.
The suit names multiple defendants. Montgomery granted a similar motion eliminating USC from the case in March.
The 28-year-old Drakeo’s real name was Darrell Caldwell. He was attacked after a fight broke out behind the main stage of the Once Upon A Time in LA music festival on Dec. 18, 2021, and died later at a hospital.
The lawsuit’s plaintiffs include Darrylene Corniel, Drakeo’s mother and the personal representative of his estate, and the hip-hop artist’s only son, a minor. The original complaint was filed in February 2022 and alleges that the defendants failed to provide adequate security at the festival.
“Defendants, and each of them, were completely knowledgeable of the potential dangers posed to both their guests and the performers that they hired based upon numerous past incidents of violence and death at their hip-hop events,” the suit states.
Banc of California Stadium is now called BMO Stadium.
Drakeo was a Los Angeles native who released 10 mixtapes since 2015 and put out his first studio album titled “I Am Mr. Mosely” in April 2017. Critics have cited his unique flow and “oddly expressive, poetic word choices.” The Los Angeles Times called him “the most original West Coast stylist in decades.”
Drakeo recorded the mixtape “Thank You For Using GTL” at Men’s Central Jail while awaiting trial in the 2016 killing of a 24-year-old man, according to The Times, which said he was acquitted of murder and attempted murder charges. Drakeo later pleaded to conspiracy charges in connection with the killing and was released in November 2020.
A final status conference involving the plaintiffs and the remaining defendants is scheduled for Sept. 8.