GEORGE, Wash. — The families of two women who were shot and killed during a music festival in 2023 at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the event organizer Live Nation and its subsidiary, as well as the security companies who worked the event.
Brandy Escamilla, 29, and Josilyn Ruiz, 26, who were engaged, attended the Beyond Wonderland festival in June 2023. The suspect, 26-year-old James M. Kelly, who was an active member of the U.S. military at the time of the shooting, allegedly took hallucinogens and began shooting in the campground, killing two people and injuring several others.
Kelly pleaded not guilty to five charges including murder, assault and domestic violence assault.
"All Brandy and Josilyn wanted to do that weekend was enjoy good music, dance, and unwind from the week but instead, they lost their lives and their opportunity to spend their lives together as they'd intended,” families of the women said in a joint statement. "We now only have pictures of our beautiful girls to look at instead of being able to hold them in our arms again, hear their voices, and let them know how much they are loved. We never want any parent or family to have to go through what we have been through."
The lawsuit was filed in King County on April 11 and alleges the event organizers and security had “inadequate, unreasonable, and egregiously deficient conduct and security,” according to the lawsuit.
The families are represented by Brian Panish, Spencer Lucas and Hunter Norton of Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP; and by co-counsel Kevin Boyle of Boyle Law. The Gorge Amphitheater is managed by Live Nation, which acquired the venue in 2006.
The lawsuit states Live Nation “woefully fell short” in enforcing its prohibition of drugs and weapons policies at the event, and claims that the company has known for years about illicit drugs at weapons at its events.
“Live Nation systematically failed to meet its own standards and take reasonable steps to make the venue and campgrounds safe for concertgoers,” a news release about the lawsuit states. “Those failures cost Brandy and Josilyn their lives.”
KING 5 has reached out to Live Nation for comment.
The lawsuit claims Kelly had firearms, multiple rounds of ammunition and illegal hallucinogenic mushrooms in his truck when he arrived at the campground, but security companies named in the lawsuit never searched or stopped him.
Kelly allegedly ate the mushrooms and began acting “erratic and strange” in the concert area, according to the lawsuit. Kelly returned to the campground with his girlfriend, where he reportedly retrieved his gun from his truck and began shooting. Escamilla and Ruiz were shot and died at the scene, and several other people were also struck by gunfire, documents state.
“Despite displaying obvious signs of illicit drug use and suspicious behavior that were grounds for immediate ejection from the festival and campgrounds, not a single Live Nation staff member, manager, or security member attempted to intervene or approach the shooter prior to him perpetrating the shooting,” the lawsuit states.
Kelly's next hearing is Aug. 5.