Tenafly Landlord Charged in Deaths of Grandmother, Child in Little Ferry House Fire
By Mary Miraglia
LITTLE FERRY, N.J. (April 12, 2017) — The Bergen County prosecutor has charged a Tenafly landlord, Gary L’Heureux of 139 Walnut Dr., with purposely violating a state fire code which resulted in the deaths of two of his Little Ferry tenants, Margaret and Maribella Colon.
The two lived in the third floor of a house at 119 Washington Ave. owned by L’Heureux that caught fire last Aug. 18. Investigators found the third floor of the building had not been upgraded as required by law to adequately function as a dwelling unit. The lapses included missing smoke detectors, failure to have self-closing doors on apartments on both the second and third floors, and no access to a rear door or fire escape which would have allowed the tenants to escape.
Three people were living in the third floor apartment, mother, daughter and grandmother: Margaret Colon, 5-year old Maribella, and Stephanie Colon. Stephanie escaped by jumping out of the third-floor window. Firefighters rescued the other two who were sent to area hospitals, where they died. Second floor residents were all rescued and survived, although some had injuries.
The arrest is the result of a joint investigation conducted by the prosecutor’s arson unit, Little Ferry police, and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department. The fire itself was ruled accidental, the result of an explosion that started in a garage area that was being rented to a non-tenant to store motorcycles.
L’Heureux has been charged with two second degree counts of knowingly violating state fire code, leading to the deaths of Margaret and Maribella Colon, and an additional third degree count of knowingly violating state fire code leading to the serious bodily injury of Stephanie Colon and David Lucero, a second floor tenant.
All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
