Derick Almena, the master tenant at the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland, where dozens were killed in a fire in 2016, pleaded guilty to 36 counts of manslaughter on Friday as part of a court settlement that the victims’ families said was shocking and disappointing.
Alameda County prosecutors told the victims’ families that Almena, 50, will receive a nine-year prison sentence as part of the deal, the East Bay Times reported earlier, and will likely serve little or no additional time behind bars because of the time spent already attended and credit for good behavior. His sentence is expected in the coming weeks, according to the local news agency KTVU.
Thirty-six people died in a fire in the Ghost Ship warehouse in 2016 during a dance party of electronic music on the second floor. Alameda County prosecutors said the fire had moved so fast that many people upstairs had few warnings or a chance to flee down the crumbling wooden staircase that led to the first floor.
The Ghost Ship warehouse was illegally converted into an artist’s residence and event space, part of an animated art scene in Oakland that was being squeezed by gentrification. The building was not allowed for residence or public performances.
Some participants at the party remembered seeing the warehouse full of objects made of wood, and prosecutors said there were flammable materials, including extension cables, throughout the two-story building.
The tragedy struck the Oakland artist community, and many said at the time that it illustrated the risk forced to survive in the Bay Area, as rental prices rose and authorities began to “crack down on marginalized communities”.
In the years since the fire, the families of the 36 people who died have hoped for justice. Almena’s court settlement, which families only heard about being a possibility last week, angered some, the East Bay Times reported.
David Gregory, father of victim Michela Gregory, told the newspaper he was disappointed with a possible court settlement.
“I think that now we should move on with our lives as if that were something we should just accept,” he added.
“It is beyond disappointment. It is beyond shock. I can’t raise my emotions enough. I am discouraged and depressed, ”said Colleen Dolan, whose daughter Chelsea Faith Dolan also died in the fire.
Almena has served time behind bars since 2017, but was released in May 2020 after paying $ 150,000 bail due to fears about COVID-19. He is under house arrest at his home in Upper Lake, California, where he lives with his wife and children, the Associated Press reported.
The first trial ended with a jury verdict suspended for Almena in September 2019, after more than two weeks of jury deliberations.
Max Harris, 29, who helped Almena collect the rental of the Ghost Ship, was acquitted of 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the same trial.