The murder of four University of Idaho students shocked the nation in 2022, and now country superstar Morgan Wallen has done his part to support one of the victims’ loved ones. TMZ reports that Wallen heard Ethan Chapin’s family were fans of his, so he gifted them concert tickets for his San Diego show. The singer also dished out some meet-and-greet passes and took photos with Chapin’s family and friends.
“Last night, we met Morgan Wallen! He kindly gifted our family and friends tickets to his show in San Diego. Morgan’s mom, Lesli, even flew in! It was an incredibly bittersweet full-circle moment,” Chapin’s mother, Stacy, wrote in a social media post, per TMZ. She added, “Truthfully, the show would have been enough. We were all over the moon, and then Morgan handed us a donation check to the Ethan’s Smile Foundation. It was one of the kindest gestures in my life. I still cannot believe it happened, and it isn’t easy to recognize it all came at a massive cost to our family.”
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In addition to Chapin, his girlfriend Xana Kernodle and her roommates — Madison Mogen and Kaylee Gonclaves — were also murdered, per the Idaho Statesman. The four were stabbed to death in a heinous November massacre, while they slept. Two other roommates were present at the time of the killings, but were reportedly cooperating with police and not ever considered persons of interest. Ultimately, police arrested Bryan Kohberger and charged him with the murders. He has pleaded not guilty, but prosecutors are said to be looking to pursue the death penalty if he is convicted.
The thoughtful gesture from Wallen comes after he had to postpone some concerts earlier this summer due to health issues. In early May, Wallen shared a video message with his fans, revealing that he’d been dealing with persistent vocal issues, which led to doctors recommending that he rest his voice. Wallen explained that he would have to cancel all of his shows for the six weeks, which would impact concerts well into June, with intentions to reschedule. “We’re working on rescheduling all the dates during this time frame,” Wallen explained at the time, adding, “They told me that if I do this the right way, I’ll get back to 100%.”
In June, Wallen shared a positive health update that reveled he’d be able to get back on stage and start performing again. PEOPLE reports that the country star posted some pictures to his Instagram Stories thread recently, showing that he was hanging out on a boat with fellow country superstar Eric Church. In one of the posts, Wallen captioned the photo “Also, the doc cleared me to talk and sing… we back.”
