THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 21, 1994 TAG: 9412210272
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Relatives of four tenants killed in their home by carbon monoxide poisoning sued the landlords, the city and the gas company for negligence on Tuesday.
The four lawsuits - one for each person who died - demand a total of $20 million in damages.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for landlords Suzanne and Dale Marshall of Virginia Beach said Tuesday they did not previously know about problems with the house's gas-fueled heater or chimney, which apparently killed the tenants.
The lawyer said an inspection in March 1994 by the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority found only minor problems with the house, at 208 W. 30th St. in Park Place, and they were quickly fixed.
``Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Marshall had any knowledge of any problem with either the heating system or chimney,'' said the lawyer, Thomas B. Shuttleworth. ``Mr. and Mrs. Marshall are honest, hard-working people who have prided themselves on being responsible members of our community.''
But the lawyer representing the victims' relatives said the landlords, Virginia Natural Gas and the city of Norfolk each bears some responsibility for the deaths.
``Not only was this completely avoidable,'' said the lawyer, Stanley E. Sacks, ``but any one of the defendants could have, and should have, avoided this.''
Sacks filed the lawsuits Tuesday in Circuit Court. He also got a court order preventing the landlords from fixing or changing the house and heater, so he can have the defects inspected. The city padlocked the house after the accident.
On Dec. 12 four people were found dead in the house: Julia Dempsey, 38; her fiance, William E. Staton, 41; their child, William Dempsey, 5; and her daughter, Lakisha, 15.
Investigators say soot and bricks from the chimney clogged the gas heater's exhaust vent, preventing deadly carbon monoxide from escaping.
On Tuesday, the issue of liability became even cloudier as lawyers and others exchanged new charges.
Sacks said the landlords ignored the tenants' repeated complaints about the heater.
Shuttleworth said the landlords never received complaints about the heater. ``Whenever anyone complains to Mr. Marshall about anything, he goes out and has it fixed,'' he said.
Shuttleworth said the tenants may have complained to the city housing authority. The tenants rented the house under Section 8, a federal subsidy program for poor families.
But a housing authority spokesman said the tenants never complained to the authority, either.
``We have absolutely no record whatsoever,'' spokeswoman Andrea Bear said. ``There was never any call from the resident regarding any problems. If there had been, we would have gone out.''
Shuttleworth said the landlords never learned of the house's problems because it was inspected by the housing authority in March 1993 and March 1994 and eventually passed both times.
Bear agreed that this year's inspection found only minor problems. But in March 1993, she said, the inspector found red tags on the furnace and hot-water heater, and the landlords were told to fix both.
The tags had been put there by Virginia Natural Gas, indicating problems with the appliances. At the same time, the utility turned off gas to the appliances and ordered that they be fixed.
Within 30 days, the problems were fixed and the house passed a new inspection in April 1993, Bear said.
Shuttleworth said the gas company never told the landlords about the red tags. A spokesman for Virginia Natural Gas, Don Fickenscher, acknowledged Tuesday that it is possible that the inspector told only the tenants.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT CITY OF NORFOLK VIRGINIA NATURAL GAS CARBON
MONOXIDE POISONING by CNB