The grieving family who lost nine-year-old Ezra Blount after he succumbed to injuries during the deadly crowd surge at Travis Scott's Astroworld festival has declined the rapper's offer to pay for the little one's funeral.
Per The Independent, in response to a letter by the rapper, in which he offers to cover the costs of the young boy's funeral, the Blount family lawyer Bob Hilliard wrote: "Your client's offer is declined."
He added: "I have no doubt Mr. Scott feels remorse. His journey ahead will be painful. He must face and hopefully see that he bears some of the responsibility for this tragedy."
Around 50,000 fans were at Scott's November 5 concert when a section of the crowd started rushing towards the stage during his performance. Festival-goers affected by the crowd surge struggled to breathe, with some passing out, and, as a result, were trampled on by other fans.
Earlier this month, nine-year-old Ezra became the tenth person to die at the Astroworld festival on its opening night.
Ezra was on his father Treston's shoulders during the surge and fell to the ground when Treston lost consciousness due to increasing pressure from the crowd. After the young boy fell, he was trampled on by other festival-goers.
He tragically passed away on November 14, at Texas children's hospital - nine days after the concert.
Following the youngster's passing, Scott's attorney Daniel Petrocelli sent a letter to the Blounts' lawyer, offering to cover the funeral expenses.
Petrocelli's letter read: "Travis is devastated by the tragedy that occurred at the Astroworld Festival and grieves for the families whose loved ones died or were injured.
"Travis is committed to doing his part to help the families who have suffered and begin the long process of healing in the Houston community. Toward that end, Travis would like to pay for the funeral expenses for Mr. Blount’s son."
In Hilliard's written response on behalf of the Blount family, he said that losing Ezra was like "a faucet of unimaginable pain that has no off handle."
He continued: "To lose a child in the manner Treston lost Ezra compounds the pain. As a parent, Treston cannot help but agonize over the terrible idea that Ezra’s last minutes were filled with terror, suffering, suffocation, and worst of all, surrounded by strangers, his dad unconscious underneath the uncontrolled crowd."
The 10 people who tragically lost their lives at the concert were between the ages of nine and 27: Mirza Baig, 27, Rodolfo Peña, 23, Madison Dubiski, 23, Bharti Shahani, 22, Franco Patino, 21, Axel Acosta Avila, 21, Jacob Jurinek, 20, Brianna Rodriguez, 16, John Hilgert, 14 and Ezra Blount, 9.
Our thoughts are with the victims' loved ones at this difficult time.