Partial settlement in E2 nightclub stampede case

Three and a half years ago, 21 patrons of Chicago's E2 nightclub were killed in a stampede after club security used pepper spray to break up a fight--after which the frightened customers fled toward an exit--that was bolted shut.

From AP:

A judge has approved a partial settlement in which families of 21 people killed in a 2003 Chicago nightclub stampede will receive $1.5 million, attorneys announced Thursday.

Under the settlement approved Wednesday by Cook County Circuit Judge Kathy M. Flanagan, E2 club owners Calvin Hollins and Dwain Kyles and building owner Lesly Benodin will pay into a fund established for the plaintiffs.

They were then dismissed as defendants in a lawsuit filed by the victims' families.

But Kyles; Hollins; Hollins' son, Calvin Hollins III; and a fourth man, party promoter Marco Flores, still face criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter in the Feb. 17, 2003, stampede, said Melvin Brooks, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys. All four have pleaded not guilty.

This case has become an issue in the Tennessee US Senate race. The campaign fund of the Democratic candidate, Harold Ford, Jr., donated $1,000 to the defense fund of E2 owner Dwain Kyles.

Related post: Harold Ford Jr. and Chicago's E2 nightclub tragedy

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