Father of woman killed after 2008 Country Fest holds annual protest

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- The father of a woman killed in a car accident after a 2008 country music concert at Gillette Stadium planned his annual protest at the event Saturday.

Steve Davis has carried a sign through the parking lots at the stadium asking for the public's help in stopping underage drinking at the New England Country Music Festival each year since his daughter Debra's death.

Debra was 20 years old when she died after the car she was a passenger in veered off Route 1 in Wrentham and struck a tree. The 20-year-old and two underage friends reportedly spent the day drinking in the Gillette Stadium parking lots and did not have tickets for the show.

In the years following Debra's death, her family filed a lawsuit against the Kraft Group accusing them of promoting a "culture of underage drinking." The family also filed a bill sponsored by Massachusetts House Representative Walter Timilty that calls for parking lots to open just two hours before concert gates open.

MaryAnn Davis spoke to FOX 25's Bob Ward about the legislation on Aug. 9, 2012. She says the bill would give concert goers just enough time to "get their tickets checked, get in, socialize a bit, gather with their friends, and go into the venue."

The bill was scheduled to go before the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government on May 1. It is still listed as being in Committee on the Mass. legislature's website.

Officials have cracked down on public drunkenness in Gillette Stadium's parking lots in recent years. Cars without tickets for each occupant have been turned away and the lots open later than they did in previous years, with lots opening for the 2013 concerts at 2 p.m. and stadium gates opening at 4 p.m. for the 5 p.m. show.

Steve Davis made headlines during the trial of James "Whitey" Bulger. Investigators alleged his sister, Debra, whom his daughter was named after, was killed by Bulger. The jury ultimately delivered no finding in her killing in one part of Bulger's multi-count racketeering indictment.

Cox Media Group