What if your slumlord’s inactions resulted in death? That’s what happened in the case of Stephen Hewett-Brown of the Bronx, age 25. He was valiantly attempting to help a woman and child out of a stuck elevator when it tragically began moving, pinning him.
6ABC reports,
Police say Stephen was able to push Erudis Sanchez and a child away from the elevator, saving their lives before he became trapped.
Stephen sustained multiple traumas from the moving elevator and was pronounced dead at New York Downtown Hospital.
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Our sister station WABC is learning from city records that there are three active Buildings Department violations on the elevators.“It jumps. It jumps a couple of floors. It goes down and then it goes up,” said former Tenants Association President Dashia Imperiale.
Imperiale was stuck in the same elevator not long ago. She and the current Tennant Association President Daisy Paez say numerous complaints have been made to the management company.
“The elevators were a problem and needed to be fixed,” said Imperiale.
This is a horrific incident and the slumlord who neglected to repair the elevators after repeated complaints should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of law.
The victim’s friend, Ejiro Omenih, said afterward, “I love him. And may his soul rest in peace. I feel that that alone shows his character, who he is. And I wish his family all the best.”
