"Senseless tragedy:" Man who died at electronic music festival had 109-degree temperature



LAS VEGAS -- A 34-year-old California man died at an electronic music festival in Las Vegas -- his temperature 109.6 degrees, and his family is blaming festival organizers for his death.

"My husband had the best heart in the world. He was so giving. He was so kind. He would do anything for me," Jennifer Marshall said.

Marshall said at 35, she never thought she'd be a widow. She never thought her husband, Michael Morse would die on the first night of the Electric Daisy Carnival, Friday, June 16th.

 

"It was the worst call of my life because, as I told you, this was suppose to be his last rave that he was going to," Marshall said.

Morse and two friends from Thousand Oaks, California made the trip to EDC. Marshall said things took a turn for the worst as they were waiting in line for an Uber after 3:00 a.m. Saturday.

 

"At about 3:25 in the morning, he began convulsing and having seizures," Marshall said.

He was taken to the EDC medical tent, and about four hours later, the Clark County coroner reported Morse died at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"At his death, his temperature was a 109.6," Marshall said.

That's more than 10 degrees higher than a person's body temperature.

Marshall said her husband, before his death, complained of the heat and problems with getting drinking water.

 

"The water stations they did have had lines of over an hour for people to try to get water," Marshall said.

Then, Marshall said, there were issues with getting an ambulance.

"Ambulances were delayed getting into the Las Vegas Speedway, because of the high amount of traffic," Marshall said.



Marshall said she holds festival organizers accountable.

 

"This is just a senseless tragedy. It's a senseless tragedy that could have been prevented," Marshall said.

Las Vegas police wrote in an email to KSNV: "The death did not occur during the operation period of the 2017 Electric Daisy Carnival which were from 7:00 p.m. to the event's conclusion each night at approximately 5:30 a.m. The statistics sent to the media were for the operation periods of the event and known incidents. The death is not investigated as a crime, and is being handled by the Clark County Coroner's Office."

Morse's family says it's clear he died during the hours of the festival at the speedway. However, his death wasn't made official until the coroner declared him dead around 7:40 a.m.