Investigators find what caused two deaths at Allen Benedict Court but no charges filed
After a 10-month investigation into how two men died at the Allen Benedict Court public housing complex, authorities said no criminal charges will be filed.
The 5th Circuit Solicitors Office, which prosecutes criminal cases in Richland County, announced the decision Wednesday at a news conference at the Richland County Courthouse.
“What has happened here in Allen Benedict Court is indeed a tragedy,” Solicitor Byron Gipson said. “The decision not to pursue criminal charges in general sessions court is not intended to be a commentary, either directly or indirectly, on civil liability. It’s not meant to be a comment on whether or not an agency can be charged (in civil court).”
After the men died in January, at least five civil lawsuits were filed against the Columbia Housing Authority, claiming the authority ignored warnings about gas leaks that harmed residents.
Gipson, along with Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook and Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins, said that a thorough investigation into the deaths determined that a faulty furnace caused carbon monoxide to build up in the men’s apartments.
In January, authorities found 61-year-old Calvin Witherspoon Jr. and 30-year-old Derrick Caldwell Roper dead in their respective apartments at Allen Benedict Court, a now condemned public housing complex on Harden Street. An autopsy revealed that the men died from carbon monoxide poisoning, Coroner Gary Watts said.
After their deaths, an inspection found heightened levels of the gas and other hazardous airbornes in 63 homes of the public housing complex. The gas contamination prompted a full evacuation of the complex’s 26 buildings. The property was condemned and the complex’s 411 residents were ordered to leave.
Those who could not find a place to live were put in temporary housing by the Columbia Housing Authority. Some lived in hotels for months until the authority found them permanent homes.
After the evacuation, former residents feared carbon monoxide and natural gas leaks could have affected them and their children.
The furnace that caused the deaths was 30 years old and build up of debris caused a carbon monoxide vent to stop working, according to Holbrook.
“No evidence was found that the blockage was caused by improper repairs,” he said. “It was dirty.”
The “extensive investigatory process” was handled by the Columbia Police Department, the fire department, the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, the Richland County Coroner’s Office and the state Fire Marshal, Gipson said.
Gipson said he walked the property with investigators and inspectors to help determine if any criminal charges could be brought.
During the investigation, the Columbia Police Department interviewed Columbia Housing Authority executives, former tenants, maintenance workers and others. The investigation brought in two independent forensic firms that performed tests to help determine what happened.
The investigation found that “no preventative maintenance (was) done on appliances,” Holbrook said.
Maintenance reports were inadequate and incomplete and the housing authority had a single inspector for 2,600 housing units, which was not nearly enough, according to Holbrook.
“There was a perception or belief by many that if you complained things would not be fixed,” Holbrook said about tenets.
The Columbia Housing Authority, which has re-branded as Columbia Housing, provides affordable housing to about 16,000 people in Richland County and Cayce through properties the authority owns and by granting payment assistance, according to the organization. Columbia Housing is funded and regulated by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The authority’s former director, Gilbert Walker, worked for the Columbia Housing Authority for more than 50 years and led the organization for nearly two decades before he retired after the deaths.
The authority made some major changes “to ensure tragedy never happens again,” the agency said, such as getting new commissioners who establish policy and hiring a new executive director and chief operating officer.
“We are working to improve response time for work orders and improving avenues of communications and accessibility,” Ivory Matthews, who was hired as executive director in July, said in a statement. “We’ve already begun the initial phases of conducting comprehensive needs assessments of our entire portfolio of housing units, and we will be introducing a redevelopment plan in the near future to include the demolition of Allen Benedict Court. We are also examining the capacity of each department to ensure maximum performance.”
Though no criminal charges are filed, city inspectors cited the Columbia Housing Authority with 869 code violations for not having carbon monoxide detectors or working smoke detectors, expired fire extinguishers and exposed wires. A monetary penalty for the violations will be determined in municipal court.
Holbrook called the number of violations against a property “unprecedented.”
“This could have been avoided through some measures,” Jenkins, the fire chief, said. The deaths were “totally preventable through regular maintenance.”
The Fire Department will be working closely with the authority going forward, according to Jenkins.
The authority has installed carbon monoxide detectors in all its properties and the fire department is helping to educate residents on the dangers of the gas along with how to make sure detectors are working.
‘We’re going to take it upon our shoulders” to make sure the authorities properties are inspected, Jenkins said.
Residents thought that the foul smell of natural gas “was just a way of life,” he said.
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 11:17 AM.