The mother of deceased Migos rapper, Takeoff is suing the bowling venue where the rapper was killed last November during a shooting.
Titania Davenport’s lawsuit has listed at least 20 instances of negligence by 810 Billiards and Bowling and says it failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that attendees at the dice game would be safe.
Takeoff was shot and killed in the wee hours of the morning on November 1 during what was a dice game involving dozens of young people, including fellow rapper Quavo, relatives of J. Prince, and others. The shooting reportedly stemmed from an argument between persons at the dice game, and the moment Takeoff was shot was caught on camera. He died at the scene.
His mother’s wrongful death suit filed in Harris County, Texas district only names 810 Billiards & Bowling but not the organizers of the event, who are reportedly J Prince’s son, Jas Prince.
According to Rolling Stone, The lawsuit alleges that the bowling company failed to take proper steps to keep and maintain the security of the venue, knowing the number of guests that were attending and the high profile of the guests, which might have required a higher standard of security.
“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,” the lawsuit said.
It added, “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, including [Takeoff]. 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 said the defendant could have easily foreseen that the venue might have been a target for criminals especially given past incidents occurring there.
“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.”
Among the instances of negligence Davenport listed are that the venue failed to provide adequate and appropriate security to screen persons entering the event, failed to secure the premises to ensure no unauthorized access, failed to warn invitees of the possible dangers of their presence at the venue and failed to properly retain, hire, train, and supervise their employees.
A dollar figure for damages has not been stated, but the late rapper’s mother is asking the court to award damages to include compensatory, special, economic, consequential, general, and punitive damages as allowed under Texas law.
Takeoff died at the age of 28. He was neither married nor had children.
