Building owner, manager named in two more suits after deadly Roseland fire

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - The mother of four children who died in a Roseland apartment fire earlier this month and her boyfriend have filed separate lawsuits against the apartment building's owner and real estate management company.

Shamaya Coleman and her boyfriend, Nathaniel Johnson, separately filed negligence lawsuits Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court. Both suits name Tahir M. Sheikh, who owns the 18-unit building at 11240 South Vernon, and J&J Real Estate Management and Construction.

Coleman and Johnson were critically injured in the extra-alarm fire that broke out about 3:25 a.m. on Sept. 8, officials said. The fire began in a second-floor apartment.

Coleman and Johnson jumped from a third-floor apartment window and were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition, police said. The rest of the building's residents evacuated safely, according to Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner Michael Fox.

The fire killed Coleman's children Eri'ana Patton Smith, 7; Shamarian Coleman, 12; Carlvon Clark, 13; and Carliysia Clark, 15, authorities said. Autopsies found all four died of carbon monoxide toxicity from inhalation of smoke and soot, and their deaths were ruled accidents, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Both suits claim Sheikh and J&J were negligent in not having working smoke detectors throughout the building. Coleman's suit also claims the defendants did not properly secure the apartment where the fire began, and Johnson's states the building had no adequate escape route or emergency equipment.

Johnson's suit claims as a result of the defendants' negligence, he was forced to jump out of the third floor window, causing catastrophic injuries. Coleman's suit states she also sustained severe and serious injuries.

Both suits also name the city as a respondent in discovery, as it is believed by the plaintiff to have information essential to the determination of who should properly be named as additional defendants, Coleman's suit states.

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, the Sun-Times reported. They also complained about water damage, broken doors and furnaces that were either not working or improperly installed. In all, 17 violations were recorded, Mimi Simon, a building department spokeswoman, said at the time.

A representative of J&J Real Estate Management and Construction told the Sun-Times earlier this month that 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.

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Building owner, manager named in two more suits after deadly Roseland fire