Family of woman who died at Lightning in a Bottle sues festival, former medical examiner
As the annual Lightning in a Bottle music festival gets underway in southern Monterey County, the family of a Ventura woman who died after attending the festival last year is suing the event's promoter over the death.
Baylee Gatlin, 20, died May 28 at Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton after being transported there from the festival at Lake San Antonio, where she was taken to a medical tent after ingesting drugs, including the hallucinogen LSD.
Because she died in San Luis Obispo County, the SLO County Sheriff-Coroner's Office performed the autopsy on Gatlin. In a ruling that attracted skepticism from the medical community, a SLO County medical examiner blamed her death on an unprecedented LSD overdose, a ruling later changed amid media scrutiny.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press cited the City News Service wire in reporting on the lawsuit, which was filed in Monterey County and alleges that Gatlin didn’t receive proper medical attention for hours after she became ill from possible drug use.
According to the AP, the complaint alleges that the festival didn’t have qualified medical personnel on site, and names the promoter, Do Lab, as the primary defendant. Representatives for Do Lab did not immediately return a request for comment from The Tribune Wednesday.
The revised coroner's report says Gatlin's death was caused by multi-organ failure, hyperthermia and dehydration.
The Tribune has not been able to independently obtain a copy of the Gatlin family's civil complaint.
Authorities believe Gatlin arrived at the festival on May 24. According to the amended autopsy report, on May 25-26, witnesses said they saw Gatlin “hanging around ‘shady’ people, who were believed to be methamphetamine users."
Witnesses also said they were aware Gatlin was using LSD at the festival, and she was witnessed taking “at least 2.5 doses” of the drug on May 27. At 7 p.m. on May 27, friends took Gatlin to a medical tent. She eventually was taken to Twin Cities, where she died nearly nine hours later, on May 28.
Ari DeChellis, Gatlin’s aunt, told The Tribune last May that Gatlin’s death “could have been prevented.”
“They could have had medical services for her, and they didn’t,” DeChellis said at the time. “And they could have had sensible people working in what was supposed to be the triage or medical and apparently they didn’t.”
The lawsuit also names San Luis Obispo County's former medical examiner, Gary Walter, who made the initial controversial LSD overdose ruling. Walter ended his contract with San Luis Obispo County last year, and was replaced by the county's first-ever full-time medical examiner in September.
According to Lightning in a Bottle’s website, medical teams are available 24 hours a day at the event, which is now in its fifth year. About 25,000 people turned out last year for the event that features music on several stages and art installations, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.
This year's festival began on Wednesday, with the majority of the events and concerts running Friday through Sunday.
This story was originally published May 23, 2018 at 12:19 PM with the headline "Family of woman who died at Lightning in a Bottle sues festival, former medical examiner."