Takeoff’s Mother Sues Venue Owners Where Rapper Was Killed

Takeoff’s mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the owners of the Houston venue where the Migos rapper was shot and killed during a party in Nov. 2022.

Titania Davenport, the mother of the rapper born Kirsnick Ball, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in a Harris County, Texas district court against the property owners and assorted LLCs associated with Houston’s 810 Billiards & Bowling, alleging that the defendants failed to provide proper security on the night of Takeoff’s death at the age of 28.

The lawsuit, obtained by Rolling Stone, states that on Halloween night 2022, “the facility and premises were rented by a well-known music personality” — the family of Rap-A-Lot CEO J. Prince — and that there would be a gathering “‘after hours’ and with potentially many artists, popular athletes and public figures.”

“Despite these facts, Defendants provided no screening mechanisms, no after-hour controls or security measures, and no enforcement of rules or industry standards to deter crime against their invitees, to include [Takeoff],” the lawsuit alleges.

“In fact, social media posting in advance of the party made it clear that not only basic security measures needed to be followed, but advance planning and consideration should have been taken into account, which Defendants were negligent in failing to do.”

The lawsuit continues, “Defendants knew or should have known that a significant number of violent crimes were committed at the subject premises and in the surrounding area, but negligently failed to protect invitees like [Takeoff] from the risks of violent crime. Moreover, in addition to prior crimes, Defendants negligently failed to take necessary and unique precautions due to the specific event and the attendees. Specifically, Defendants knew that based on the nature of the party, celebrities would more likely than not be in attendance and potentially be the targets of crime. Defendants negligently represented proper security would be in place, when in fact none was; this caused many people to come to the event without concern.”

In fact, the lawsuit pinpoints 18 instances of alleged negligence on the property owners’ part that could have prevented Takeoff’s death, ranging from “Negligently failing to provide adequate and appropriate security personnel” and “Negligently failing to properly inspect and maintain the premises” to “Negligently failing to warn invitees of known hazards at the property” and “Negligently failing to properly retain, hire, train, and supervise their employees.”

Davenport is seeking all “compensatory, special, economic, consequential, general, punitive, and all other damages permissible under Texas law” for conscious pain and suffering, mental anguish, “loss of earning capacity” and the wrongful death of Takeoff.

The family of J. Prince nor any of the men implicated in Takeoff’s death — including Patrick Clark, who was indicted on murder charges for allegedly killing the rapper — were named in the lawsuit.

From Rolling Stone US.