More Details In Family Values Concert Beating

Band Photo: Korn (?)

Andy Richardson, who was badly beaten in a fight at a Family Values concert, has since passed. More details about the events that lead to the fight and his death have been revealed. Here are some excerpts from an AZCentral article adding to what had already been reported here:

"We just went out there to have a good night," said one friend, Eddie Arellano. "It was starting off fun. And then this whole thing turned into a nightmare."

According to Arellano and others at the concert, there was a group of rowdy men at the show.

"These guys were just way too drunk. They had too many fights," Arellano said.

Earlier in the evening, some of the rowdies tumbled down a hill, crashing into Richardson and his friends. There was a brief scuffle, according to Bernice Averil, who was in Richardson's group. A little later, the rowdies returned and one of them snatched Richardson's cap.

"When they took his hat he stood up and said 'We've already had a fight. I don't want to have any problems,' " Arellano said, describing the moments just before the punch. "The guy threw the hat back at him. And when he (Richardson) caught it, the guy hit him in the face and he hit the ground and hit the concrete with the back of his head. He just collapsed.

"His face was bloody. It was bad. It was horrible," said Arellano, who was Richardson's roommate.

The person who threw the punch and that person's friend ran off, Arellano said.

Atlanta police spokesman Officer Steve Coleman said homicide detectives "have people of interest" but no arrests had been made. Police have a "vague description" of the person who threw the punch, according to Sgt. Kevin Iosty.

Jack Gannon, a spokesman for House of Blues, a California-based company that has a sponsorship deal with what's now called HiFi Buys Amphitheater, said the incident was "unfortunate and tragic" and that the company is "cooperating fully with the Atlanta Police Department investigation."

Read the full article at AZ Central.