2 Investigates: Autopsy reports, internal emails offer new details about deadly public housing fire

Internal emails and newly-released autopsy reports obtained by 2 Investigates are revealing new details about a fire in San Francisco public housing earlier this year that killed a woman and her three-year-old son.

Esther Ioane, 32, and her son Santana Williams, 3, were killed in the fast moving blaze at the Sunnydale Public Housing Development on April 16.

At the time of her death, Ioane had detectable amounts of methamphetamine, as well as cannabinol and Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol two compounds found in marijuana in her body, according to the autopsy report released by San Franciscos Medical Examiners office.

The toxicology report also lists several other stimulants detected in Ioanes system at the time of her death. The compounds listed include amphetamine, nicotine, caffeine, and methylphenidate, a medicine prescribed to control symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to the National Institutes of Health.

On the morning of the fatal fire, Ioane was pronounced dead in her apartment at 76 Brookdale Ave. Her son was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where medical staff performed CPR for 45 minutes, but the little boy did not survive.

The Medical Examiner investigators notes state that San Francisco firefighters discovered the mother and son in the upstairs bathroom, submerged in a bathtub nearly full of water. According to the report, fire crews found Ioane and Williams with their heads near the faucet and the water turned off, presumably in an effort to avoid the smoke and flames inside the home. The toddler was discovered underneath his mothers body.

According to internal maintenance documents from San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) obtained by 2 Investigates, Ioane had requested repair work for at least one smoke detector in her unit on March 31, two weeks before the fire.

A work order grants permission for an electrician to enter Ioanes unit even if no one is home. But according to records from the Housing Authority, the electrician was not able to gain access and the smoke detector was not repaired.

Hand-written notes taken by the SFHA electrician, and obtained through a public records request, document multiple failed attempts to access the unit. But they do not offer any explanation of why the worker was never able to complete the requested repairs.

Kevin Cholakian, an attorney representing the Housing Authority, says an unidentified woman turned the electrician away at the door three times. Cholakian has also retained a private company to investigate the fire and issue its own report, which has not been publicly released. He says that investigation uncovered three dismantled smoke detectors inside a drawer in the unit, possibly moved by someone in the home.

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2 Investigates: Autopsy reports, internal emails offer new details about deadly public housing fire