Murder Victim's Family Criticizes TMZ Video Release

The family of a teen murdered earlier this month outside a popular Hollywood nightclub is speaking out against TMZ's decision to post video depicting the deadly shooting.

Andre Lowe, 19, was killed on Jan. 13 when a gunman shot into a crowd during a fight that began inside the Empire Club on North Cahuenga Boulevard.

Lowe's uncle, Jason Andrews, recently told Salon he feels the gossip site went too far.

Knowing that the last two minutes of a family member’s life was being viewed … for entertainment was too much to handle.

He started an online petition to get the video removed from TMZ, which received more than 200,000 signatures. TMZ eventually edited the video to end just before Lowe was killed, Salon reported.

In a post on the petition website titled "Victory," Andrews said, "TMZ’s sensationalistic coverage of a regular teenager’s tragic murder added salt to the wound for our family. ... While we're disappointed that TMZ ever made the decision to post this video and we still believe TMZ owes our family an apology for the pain they cause us, we're glad to see that the video has been edited due to the pressure from our petition on Change.org."

Read the full story on Salon.com.

What do you think of TMZ's decision to publish the video? Tell us in the comments section below.

Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Sign up for our newsletter | Blog on Patch