A D.C. man has been handed a sentence of over 35 years in prison for the deaths of two people in a 2019 fire at an unlicensed Kennedy Street row house he owned. According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office, 67-year-old James G. Walker was convicted of second-degree murder following the fatal incident that claimed the lives of Fitsum Kebede and Yafet Solomen.
The case, jointly tried by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General, revealed that Walker had operated the property as an illegal "rooming house" while ignoring several fire safety codes. Despite specific warnings from the Metropolitan Police Department back in March 2019 to correct hazardous fire safety building codes, Walker opted not to make the required fixes, which tragically led to the eventual trapping of the victims in the ensuing blaze.
Superior Court Judge Todd Edelmen also imposed five years of supervised release on Walker. The row house owned by Walker at 708 Kennedy St. NW was found to violate numerous fire safety codes, lacking features like windows in some rooms, functional smoke alarms, and most critically, a clear exit path. This was made worse by a double-keyed security gate installed within the property that obstructed the escape route from the kitchen to the front door.
On August 18, 2019, fire broke out in the basement of the property where Fitsum Kebede, aged 40, and ten-year-old Yafet Solomen were located. Unable to exit the premises, they died from thermal burns and smoke inhalation. "The defendant’s knowledge of the danger posed by the conditions of the property and his conscious disregard of the extreme risk that death or serious bodily injury could occur were the but-for cause of the deaths of the decedents," the U.S. Attorney's Office statement alleged.
Officials, including U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb, and ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood, commended the collaborative effort of the ATF Arson and Explosives Task Force.
