A judge has reportedly dismissed a guilty verdict in the tragic Black Sunday fire trial for lack of evidence.
The owner and building manager of an apartment building in the Tremont section of the Bronx had been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide on Feb. 18, 2009, following the death of two firefighters, Newsday reported on its Web site today.
But the judge said today that Bronx prosecutors did not present evidence that proved the two knew that tenants had built illegal walls that confused firefighters trying to escape the 2005 blaze.
Cesar Rios, the building manager, was convicted of criminally negligent homicide, but the jury stopped short of finding him guilty on the more serious manslaughter charge, which could have sent him to prison for 15 years. He was also found guilty of reckless endangerment.
The company — 234 E. 178th St. LLC — that owns the building on East 178th Street was also convicted of the same charges.
An earlier trial had exonerated two tenants who built the walls.
Firefighters Curtis Meyran, 46, and John Bellew, 37, jumped to their deaths after they became trapped in a room without a fire escape. Four other firemen who also jumped, but survived, testified at last year’s trial.
The Bronx DA’s office did not immediately comment on the decision.
With AP