Landlord Sued In South Side Blaze That Killed 4 Children
(STMW) -- The mother of a man forced to jump with his girlfriend from a third-floor apartment window to escape a fatal blaze Monday has sued the building's owner and management company, the Sun-Times is reporting.
The lawsuit was filed late Tuesday on behalf of Darlene Hudson, the mother of Nate Johnson, according to a news release. She is suing Tahir M. Sheikh, the owner of the building in the 11200 block of South Vernon, as well as J&J Real Estate Management and Construction.
Authorities said Johnson jumped from the window with his girlfriend, Shamaya Coleman. Coleman's four children — Eri'ana Patton Smith, 7; Shamarion Coleman, 12; Carlvon Clark, 13; and Carliysia Clark, 15 — all died in the fire.
The lawsuit alleges Sheikh and J&J failed to properly equip the third-floor apartment with fire escape routes and working smoke detectors.
Hudson is represented by Chicago-based lawyer Marty Dolan. Her son remains in critical condition after suffering burns, smoke inhalation and injuries from the fall, according to a news release.
"This tragedy could have easily been prevented if the landlord and management company would have done their jobs and provided the most basic services that the law required," Dolan said in the news release. "By failing to do so, they created a death trap for this family who had no chance of escape."
The city filed a complaint Tuesday alleging it discovered 75 code violations at Sheikh's building, including 58 on Monday. It alleged there were no working smoke detectors in the building's stairways, basements and most apartments, and it said there were "no working carbon monoxide detectors throughout."
Sheikh said Tuesday that J&J told him late last month they had signed statements from all tenants that they had working smoke and CO detectors. Debra Jenkins, an agent for J&J, earlier told the Sun-Times all tenants had detectors as of Sept. 4.
Sheikh could not immediately be reached Wednesday to comment on the lawsuit. Jenkins declined to comment.
