Families of victims in fatal East St. Louis fire to sue landlord
The families of two East St. Louis residents who died in a boarding house in January 2024 are suing the landlord.
By Deion Broxton
Click here for updates on this story
EAST ST. LOUIS, Illinois (KMOV) — The families of two East St. Louis residents who died in a boarding house earlier this month are suing the landlord.
Lisa Farmer, 58, and Stanley Scott, 56, died in a housefire in the 500 block of North 13th Street near State Street on January 13.
Lawyers John Hipskind and Brady McAninch are representing the families of both victims. Both lawyers argue the landlord didn’t meet codes in the City of East St. Louis. Stanley was a disabled man who used a wheelchair. The lawyers argue there was no adequate escape route from the second floor on the house–the floor Stanley lived on.
There were no elevators in the building, so Scott had to slide up and down the stairs on his backside, according to Hipskind and McAninch. The lawyers said Farmer had escaped the fire, but she went back in to save Scott. Both died inside.
“It’s heartbroken. It’s wanting answers. It’s wanting some level of accountability,” McAninch said. “Somebody needs to make sure that these landlords are operating within code–that they’re performing the necessary functions of a government, which is protecting people. The city and government–they can’t pass the buck. If they do, then we’re going to continue to see people use the system and prey on these people.”
“We’ve heard that these folks were living without heat,” Hipskind said. “It appears by the photos that we were given—that there are many, many code violations.”
The City of East St. Louis told First Alert 4 there are no recorded complaints or code violations at the address. The city said it approved the property for only one person to live in back in February 2020 and there are no licenses or permits on file for the property to operate as a boarding house.
Lawyers and witnesses told First Alert 4 at least four people paid rent to live in the house. The property’s owner, Wade Wicks, would only tell First Alert 4 the following: “I do not take advantage of anyone.”
The Illinois State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
