Building Owner Calls Death Of Four Children 'The Saddest Situation'
(STMW) --- The owner of the building where four children died in a fire early Monday called the tragedy "the saddest situation I've ever gone through in my life."
Tahir M. Sheikh of Oak Brook spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times before an administrative hearing Tuesday afternoon the apartment building's recent failed inspections.
"You have no idea how sad and heartbroken I am," Sheikh said. "I've been so down and depressed about it."
At the hearing, Judge Joseph Sconza ordered the appointment of a receiver to ensure the building is vacant and secured. Sheikh said the building already is vacant, residents have been moved and the building has been boarded up.
Sconza awarded up to $1,500 in relocation cost reimbursements for residents.
The fire in the 11200 block of South Vernon Avenue killed Eri'ana Patton Smith, 7; Shamarion Coleman, 12; Carlvon Clark, 13; and Carliysia Clark, 15. Autopsies Tuesday found all four died of carbon monoxide toxicity from inahlation of smoke and soot, and their deaths were ruled accidents.
Two adults, including the children's mother, also were critically injured in the extra-alarm fire on the Far South Side, officials said. Shamaya Coleman, 33, jumped from the apartment with her boyfriend, Nate Johnson. They were identified by friends and relatives. Both were taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said. The rest of the building's residents evacuated safely, according to Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner Michael Fox.
Earlier Tuesday, a Chicago Fire Department official said the department has concluded its investigation into an extra-alarm fire in the Roseland neighborhood that claimed the lives of four children early Monday.
That leaves the matter in the hands of the Chicago Police Department, where officials said they are still looking into the blaze that fatally trapped the siblings, ranging in age from 7 to 15, in their third-floor apartment.
CFD spokesman Larry Langford said the fire was caused by an open flame in the living room of an apartment on the second floor. But he said investigators sifting through the wreckage haven't been able to narrow it down any further. The room had furniture, a TV and a radio, he said, but there was no stove, space heater or electrical line.
"It was most likely caused by a human hand," Langford said Tuesday. "But we don't know whether it was accidental or intentional."
Langford said the building has been turned back over to its management company, and it will be up to Chicago Police to decide whether to pursue the matter further. CPD News Affairs Officer Ana Pacheco confirmed the matter is still under investigation.
The blaze began at 3:25 a.m. on the second floor of an 18-unit building at 11240 S. Vernon Ave., authorities said.
All four children were found inside a third-floor unit. Eri'ana and Carliysia were in a closet; their brothers were in a bedroom.
There were no working smoke detectors in either the unit where the children were found or in the second-floor unit where the fire started, Langford said. But hard-wired detectors were sounding in the building's hallways, he added.
City building records online show the building has failed several inspections in the last nine years, including its most recent on June 9.
Missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors were among the inspectors' many complaints at the time. They also complained about water damage, broken doors and furnaces that were either not working or improperly installed. In all, 17 violations were recorded, according to Mimi Simon, a department spokeswoman.
Earlier this year, a March 14 complaint about lack of heat led to citations for 21 violations, Simon said.
Sheikh also owns buildings in the 7100 block of South Cornell, the 7900 block of South Harvard and the 8000 block of Ingleside, records show.
The city took Sheikh to court in January over the conditions of the building in the 11200 block of South Vernon, alleging a furnace had been broken since October and the building had not been adequately heated.
It said Sheikh had failed to install and maintain smoke and carbon monoxide detectors where needed. The city also complained about a lack of hot and cold water.
However, Cook County Judge Pamela Gillespie entered an "agreed compliance dismissal order" in February finding Sheikh in full compliance and dismissing the case without prejudice, fines or court costs.
A representative of J&J Real Estate Management and Construction said the firm was hired 45 days ago primarily to collect rent and serve eviction notices in the building and was not responsible for maintenance. Debra Jenkins, an agent for J&J, said all tenants at the property had working smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors as of Sept. 4.
Langford said the fire started in a second-floor unit, then spread into the hallway and up to the third floor. A chief on the scene told Langford flames were blowing out the windows "like a blowtorch" when firefighters arrived.
James Freeman, who lived in the second-floor unit where the fire started, said building management would never respond to his complaints about problems with the unit. His stove was smoking recently, and his request to have it looked at was ignored, he said. He also had a broken lock on his front door.
Freeman moved into the building in February 2013, and the children who died moved in the next month, he said.
Debra Jenkins, the management company agent, denied that the back door to the unit where the children died was boarded up from the outside. She said she had heard that some tenants were using two-by-fours to wedge doors shut from the inside to prevent break-ins.
About 50 people were displaced, police said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
