20-year old dies at Lightning in Bottle festival

Sad news to report from last weekend’s Lightning in a Bottle festival in California where a 20-year old has passed. As of the time of writing this article, the cause of death was unconfirmed. The LA Weekly reported that a source close to the family indicated a heart attack was the cause of death. The attendee was Baylee Gatlin from Ventura County. Gatlin’s cousin,  Jamee Ybarra, described her positive 2016 experience at LIB:

“She came back more calm, realizing more about her goals and what she wanted to do. It put a lot of good perspective in her head, and she’d been planning it (this year’s festival) since last year.”

Ari DeChellis, Gatlin’s aunt, was quoted as saying Gatlin’s death “could have been prevented.”

“They could have had medical services for her, and they didn’t. And they could have had sensible people working in what was supposed to be the triage or medical and apparently they didn’t.”

The festival organizers released the following statement to KSBW tv station in regard to Gatlin’s death: “Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the woman who passed away at Twin Cities Hospital after attending Lightning in a Bottle this weekend. We ask that the LiB community keep her and her family in their thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”