Brooklyn Landlord Charged With Manslaughter For Fatal Fire: DA

BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn landlord has been charged with manslaughter after a fire in a building he illegally subdivided left a tenant with no way out but the third-floor window, prosecutors announced.

Evener Leon, 62, is charged with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree reckless engagement and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child for the 2019 fire, which broke out while eight adults and five children were home, prosecutors said.

The fire, caused by a space heater, left one 70-year-old tenant trapped in his room with no way to escape but a third-floor window. He ended up jumping out the window to his death, prosecutors said.

“This defendant was well aware of the dangers he allegedly created and allowed to persist, but tragically and disastrously chose to disregard building safety regulations leaving a tenant with no way to escape the fire," District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "His alleged reckless disregard for the law and his failure to protect his tenants cost a man his life. We will now seek to hold him accountable for his actions.”

Leon, who lived with his family on the second floor of the 1776 Nostrand Ave. building, had illegally divided the third floor into four apartments, prosectors said.

The tenants each had space heaters and used hot plates to cook their meals because Leon hadn't paid the utility bill in years, prosecutors discovered.

Around 4 a.m. one December morning, a cord connected to one of the space haters in a rear bedroom on the second floor broke out in flames and quickly spread to the third floor, according to Fire Marshals.

The 70-year-old tenant, Jean Yves Lalanne, was in what firefighters refer to as a "dead man's room" given that it had no exit once the fire engulfed the stairwell. There was no fire escape in front of the building and Lalanne was unable to reach the rear fire escape given the layout of the third floor, prosecutors said.

There were also no sprinkler heads on the second or third floors and no fire-proof or self-closing doors on the third floor, officials said.

The other children and adults who were home, who were able to get to the rear fire escape, suffered from smoke inhalation and other injuries, officials said.

Leon faces up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted on the top count. He will return to court in June.