SXSW Facing Lawsuits From Last Year’s Fatal Crash

Photo by Colin Kerrigan

Last March a fatal car crash at SXSW killed four people– Steven Craenmehr, 35, of the Netherlands; Jamie Ranae West, 27, a local Austin resident; Sandy Le, 26; and DeAndre Tatum, 18. Rashad Owens, the driver in the crash, is currently facing four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a capital murder charge, and 20 counts of assault.

Now, the families of the victims have brought a new wave of lawsuits against the festival, Billboard reports. According to the report, Craenmehr’s family claims festival organizers for SXSW neglected to take certain traffic safeguards during the festival, which may have put people at risk.

The lawsuits filed today are the first since the crash last March. 

The music portion of this year’s SXSW takes place March 17-22.

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