Sheila E. Has condemned a Southern California city for allowing a music festival to continue while a deceased attendee’s body remained inside the park.
The Grammy-winning percussionist, 68, directed her anger at Carson officials in an emotional Instagram video posted after she learned what had unfolded Saturday at Anderson Memorial Park. Temperatures had climbed past 102 degrees during the event, which drew crowds who began arriving as early as 7:30 a.m.
“Production, whoever, the city, the mayor was there. All of you guys should have stopped the festival,” she said in the video. “I’m sorry. You should have stopped the festival.”
The musician said she performed believing “everything was taken care of” after a medical emergency in the VIP section. She even offered a blessing for the stricken woman from the stage. What she did not know was that Shari Sanders of Altadena had died, and her covered body would stay at the park for roughly another half hour.
“Carson, you guys have to do better,” Sheila E. Continued. “This was horrible. Horrible. And I’m so sorry that I played because I would not have gotten onstage knowing that she was still there.”
Concerned bystanders found Sanders unconscious and unresponsive where she had been saving seats for her family, according to the musician. Dr. Dionne Leslie, a physician attending the festival, performed CPR for 20 minutes but could not revive her.
“(I was) just trying to breathe air into that woman and for her to look up in that moment, I just thought that she was going to make it,” Leslie said.
The doctor was devastated to later discover Sanders’ body had not been removed. “No one wants to see their mom at a park covered up with kids playing, and music playing, like she didn’t matter,” Leslie said.
Sanders’ family told KTLA her death was heat-related and that she had no prior medical history. Her body was covered at the scene until it could be picked up around 5 p.m., approximately thirty minutes after Sheila E. Finished her set.
The percussionist, who won her Grammy in 2025 for “Bemba Colorá” with Gloria Estefan and Mimy Succar, said the tragedy was unprecedented in her decades-long career spanning back to her 1980s work with Prince on “The Glamorous Life.”
“This has never happened to me in my entire career,” she said. “It was devastating.”
She also faulted the festival’s preparation for the extreme conditions. “The devastating part is she passed away, and we heard that … there was only one water station, which was unfortunate because there was just not enough water for everyone,” she said.
Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes offered condolences to both Sanders’ family and Sheila E. A city spokesperson told KTLA that officials are reviewing the circumstances surrounding the death and cooperating with appropriate authorities.
The incident began when Sanders, a resident of Altadena, arrived early to secure seating for relatives in the VIP area of the municipal park. As temperatures soared past the century mark, she lost consciousness. Medical intervention came quickly but proved unsuccessful, and festival operations continued around the scene.
The cause of Sanders’ death remains under investigation by authorities.
Sheila E. Is scheduled to perform next in Los Angeles.