Protesters: Landlord should face homicide counts
Franklinton activists are demanding that reckless-homicide charges be brought against the owner of a house where three tenants died in a Christmas Eve fire.
Yesterday, they had to be content with seeing him concede in Franklin County Environmental Court that he failed to provide heat for tenants at another property.
Sam Vazirani, 72, pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge involving his house at 251 Clarendon Ave., meaning that he didn't admit guilt but didn't dispute the facts as filed by the city attorney's office.
Vazirani, of Planetree Court on the Northwest Side, could be sentenced to as many as 60 days in jail and fined as much as $ 500 when he appears again before Judge Harland H. Hale on March 16.
Although the charge was unrelated to the fatal fire, family members of the people who died at 90 Wisconsin Ave. were at the hearing. Renata Chappell Miller, the sister of fire victim Demetrius Chappell, screamed at Vazirani as he left the courtroom.
"You're a murderer!" she said, crying and clutching a framed photo of her brother.
More than a dozen protesters marched outside the courthouse, carrying signs with messages such as "Prosecute Vazirani" and "Safe, Decent Housing for Franklinton."
"The message is: The neighborhood is paying attention to this situation and will continue to pay attention," said Jed Dearing, a Franklinton resident who helped organize the protest. He was among a handful of protesters who also attended the hearing.
Dearing said he was pleased with the judge's ruling that the Clarendon Avenue property, which also has electrical problems, must remain vacant until the court orders otherwise. Ultimately, the group wants to see Vazirani charged with three counts of reckless homicide — one for each person who died in the Wisconsin Avenue fire.
"That's what should happen in a case where the negligent actions of a landlord help lead to death," Dearing said.
Prosecutors are trying to determine what charges to bring.
The city ordered the Wisconsin Avenue home vacated in 2009 after building officials found that it had no gas meter and that electrical and plumbing work had been done without inspections.
The city never cleared the way for anyone to reoccupy the structure, but Vazirani allowed Chappell, 33; Jerrica Francisco, 22; and her 4-year-old son, Dashawn, to move in. All died Dec. 24 in a fire caused by a space heater that ignited a mattress.
Chappell Miller was still weeping outside the courthouse after the hearing.
"I felt I needed to be heard because he has done this to so many families," she said of her courtroom outburst. "It shouldn't have taken a family to die to get action against him."
Vazirani, who was represented at the hearing by attorney Eric M. Seabrook, left the courthouse without commenting.
jfutty@dispatch.com
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