Parties delivered opening statements, and multiple witnesses testified in connection to a deadly fire and linked to more than two dozen rental code violations, before a jury and DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman on Feb. 4.
James Walker, 66, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of involuntary manslaughter for his alleged involvement in a fire that caused the deaths of 40-year-old Fitsum Kebede and nine-year-old Yafet Solomen at the 700 block of Kennedy Street, NW, on Aug. 18, 2019.
According to court documents, Solomen and Kebede were transported to the hospital with life threatening injuries. Kebede succumbed to his injuries on the same day, and Solomen on Aug. 20, 2019.
“Listen to their screams. Listen to them fall silent,” the prosecution said in opening statements, claiming that on the night of the fire the victims were trapped inside the property’s basement due to a locked metal gate where they “couldn’t breathe, couldn’t fight, but still screamed for help.”
The prosecutors told the jury that the defendant was the property’s landlord who converted it from a pharmacy into a residential rental space. They claimed that Walker had 26 fire code violations in total and chose to ignore them, stating “he knew what he built.”
According to the prosecution, there were no smoke alarms in the basement or bedrooms, no fire escape routes in the building, and no functional fire sprinklers. They claimed “he knew people could be trapped,” but didn’t fix the issues.
Prosecutors said that on March 21, 2019, police responded to the complex for a domestic dispute between tenants. A responding officer was concerned about the living conditions in the building and filed a report to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) and the fire department, according to the prosecution.
Prosecutors stated that body-worn camera footage will confirm the exchange between the responding officer and Walker in which they spoke about the building’s code violations.
Prosecutors also told the jury to “pay attention to everything responders did to try to get inside, and how hard it was to get in and out of the building,” on the night of the incident. They stated that there was only 12-and-a-half feet between firefighters and the victims, but it took firefighters 11-and-a-half minutes to reach them– ultimately getting there too late.
During his opening statements, Elliot Queen, Walker’s defense attorney, stated that the evidence will show that the responding officer on March 21, 2019 told the defendant that his violations will be reported to DCRA for inspection. However, even after two follow-up emails from the officer, the DCRA never inspected the property.
The defense acknowledged that the violations mentioned by the prosecution were cited after the fire occurred.
However, Queen told the jury that Walker is entitled to receive notice and the opportunity for inspection, which didn’t happen. He stated “DCRA failed Mr. Walker by not telling him what he needed to correct.”
Additionally, Queen said that the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) experienced a four-minute delay in dispatching the fire emergency response team, when it should take 63 seconds. He stated “four minutes in a fire is pretty much a lifetime.”
The defense referred to Walker as “the scapegoat,” for the prosecution, who he claimed wanted to “get all the attention off of them.”
Following opening statements, a firefighter that responded the night of the incident confirmed there were no smoke alarms or fire exit signs, and stated that his team had to use a saw to open a locked metal security door to reach the victims inside.
A Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer who investigated the domestic dispute on March 21, 2019 testified that even without training in fire codes, he was able to recognize many potential code violations. The officer testified he called on his partner, who is cross-trained in DCRA and fire code violations, to come to the property and file a report.
The officer’s partner, who then filed the code violation report, told the jury that when responding to his partner’s call, he asked Walker for his Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) in order to prove that the DCRA knew about his rental property.
The defendant gave the officer a C of O for the pharmacy, but the officer alerted Walker they must be updated when the use of a property changes. The witness alleged that the defendant did not have permission to have rental units in the building.
Body camera footage showed the officer asking Walker “what would happen if a fire broke out?” to which the defendant laughed and responded “jump out the window and everybody gotta pray to God,” that was eight months before the deadly fire broke out.
The footage also showed the officer telling Walker that he was being cited for code violations, and the DCRA would come out and assess the property.
The witness confirmed that he sent two follow up emails to the DCRA and fire department regarding the inspection, as well as inquiring about it in person, but never found out if an inspection ever occurred.
An MPD detective who responded to the scene after the incident testified observed no functioning smoke alarms or detectors in the basement, where most of the damage occurred. He also stated that the many doors located in the building required keys to open, easily locking the victims inside the basement level and endangering the tenants in the rest of the building.
The witness told the jury that there were allegedly many electrical hazards, including an extension chord that was plugged into multiple kitchen appliances. Most rooms reportedly had no smoke alarms, and some had no ventilation or even windows. The building had one fire exit sign that was not functioning on the night of the incident, according to the detective.
Parties are slated to reconvene Feb. 5.
