Deadly Illinois tornado left behind scars, trauma and 11 lawsuits. Here's what they claim

When the roof of the Apollo Theatre came crashing down on an audience of heavy metal concertgoers, it broke backs, split open heads, fractured ribs, shattered legs, severed a man's ear and took the life of Fred Livingston Jr., 51.

There were physical scars and emotional ones.

As the one-year anniversary of the March 31, 2023, tragedy approaches, the owners of the more than 100-year-old Belvidere, Illinois, venue and the promoters of the concert are facing nearly a dozen lawsuits.

They represent 19 people who were injured and the family of the man who was killed when an EF-1 tornado packing winds of 100 mph struck the Apollo Theatre, 104 N. State St., causing the roof to collapse.

More: Deadly roof collapse survivors describe chaos, rescue efforts at Illinois theater

In his lawsuit representing 11 of those injured, Blake Vance, an attorney with Coplan & Crane, said operators of the concert and the show's promoters failed to cancel the concert despite dire storm predictions.

They "ignored multiple warnings," he said, and did not take action to protect or evacuate the audience as forecasts turned into warnings that a tornado was headed toward Belvidere.

"No disrespect to the artists, but we're not talking about Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden one night only on his retirement tour," Vance said during an interview. "We're talking about a venue out west with a death metal band that's just touring around. You cancel the show. You postpone it. You come back in two months. No one's the worse."

'Life-threatening weather'

The lawsuits say that the show went on and tickets were being advertised as still available at the door even though there were warnings of extreme weather that endangered the old theater.

They say Crypta was allowed to finish its set even after a tornado warning was issued and sirens began to wail at 7:24 p.m. A tornado had touched down southwest of Davis Junction and was headed northeast toward Winnebago and Boone counties.

Among other allegations, the suits say that when the concert was finally paused several minutes later, concert organizers failed to evacuate the stage area "when extreme conditions were known to be present."

Some witnesses said that audience members in a balcony area were directed by concert staff to take cover in a basement. But they said those near the stage and other areas never heard those instructions and were not aware of the severity of the storm.

When the tornado reached the Apollo just before 7:45 p.m., 48 of the estimated 260 audience members were injured and one man was killed by falling roof debris.

The defendants "should have foreseen the Apollo was in an area that would experience life-threatening weather or tornados that could damage the more than 100-year-old theater," one of the lawsuits reads.

'An act of God'

Despite storm warnings at least a day in advance that grew more urgent as the concert approached that Friday, about 260 people gathered in Belvidere for a show that was to feature four bands — headliner Morbid Angel, thrash metal group Revocation, and death metal groups Skeletal Remains and Crypta.

The defendants in court filings deny any wrongdoing. They say that the tornado was an act of God and that concertgoers had a responsibility to protect themselves from dangerous weather.

The lawsuits accuse Jesus and Maria Martinez, the owners of the theater which has since re-opened, and the promoters, FM Entertainment Inc., of negligence.

Ryan T. Armour, a lawyer for FM Entertainment, declined to comment for this story.

James Devine and Patricia Hall, lawyers for the Martinez family, did not respond to email and phone messages seeking comment.

But in court filings, lawyers for the defendants said that audience members should have known about the potentially dangerous storms approaching and had a duty to protect themselves and take action for their own safety.

They said concertgoers were asked to go to the basement after the tornado warning but remained on the theater floor.

"Neither the storm, constitution, direction, strength, or the collapse of the roof of the Apollo Theatre was foreseeable," defense lawyers wrote in answer to the accusations.

Lawsuits merged

Rockford attorney Kevin Frost of Clark, Frost & Zucchi, who represents at least two of the injured audience members as co-counsel, said defense lawyers will throw "everything they can against a wall and see what sticks."

"It's not the plaintiffs' building," Frost said. "They're at a public venue, and they don't know where the tornado route would be. They don't know whether there's a basement or not. They don't know where the evacuation zone would be. I guess I would be somewhat surprised that they would argue to that with a straight face as a defense."

Because Illinois lawsuits are not required to specify how much in damages and compensation they are seeking, each asks for more than $50,000.

Each of the lawsuits is in the discovery phases and some have been merged for purposes of discovery to make them more manageable, according to court records.

In addition to the estate of Livingston, the lawsuits represent Alexis A. Arnold; Mark Atkinson of South Beloit; Tyler Atkinson of Belvidere; Daniel Barac; Genie Beers of Belvidere; Victoria Bella of Woodstock; David Bertelsen of Machesney Park; Andres Rivas DeLaPena; Joshua H. Goodwin; Lane Kibodeaux of Taylorville; Chad Koralik; Michelle Meyer of Woodstock; Carlos Miranda of Rockford; Eric Montgomery of Rockford; Josh Potter of Belvidere; Joe Quisler of Plover, Wisconsin; Paul Rojas of Roscoe; and Michael and Jacqueline Stone.

Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: A year after deadly Illinois tornado, legal battle is just beginning