Christina Grimmie’s Family Files Lawsuit Against Concert Venue Over Singer’s Death
The family of Christina Grimmie, the 22-year-old “Voice” contestant who was shot by a deranged fan in June, has filed a lawsuit alleging that the concert promoter and the venue failed to provide adequate security.
Grimmie, who finished third on the sixth season of NBC’s “The Voice,” was signing autographs backstage at the Plaza Live Theater in Orlando when she was approached by Kevin Loibl. Loibl, who was armed with two 9-mm handguns and a large hunting knife, shot Grimmie three times before being tackled by the singer’s brother. Loibl then committed suicide.
In its complaint, filed in Orange County, Fla., the Grimmie family alleges that promoter AEG Live and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Plaza Foundation, which owns the venue, did not take appropriate steps to prevent her death.
Concert-goers were subject to a bag check, but they were not required to pass through metal detectors and were not patted down by security, the lawsuit alleges.
The suit alleges that the theater had used metal detectors and body wands for other events, and should have taken those precautions for Grimmie’s concert. The suit also contends that the general manager of the Plaza Live Theater was let go nine days before the concert, as a “cost-cutting measure.”
The Plaza Live has previously stated that its security measures were adequate. The venue’s representatives also stated that the security personnel did not change during the organizational restructuring that preceded the concert. The venue did add metal-detecting wands at the first concert following Grimmie’s death.
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