Thursday marks one year since deadly Claudell Lane fire
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Thursday marked the one-year anniversary of a Columbia fire that took the lives of two children.
Just before 1:30 a.m. Dec. 14, 2022, the Columbia Fire Department responded to the Columbia Square Apartments in the 1000 block of Claudell Lane.
Responding crews reported heavy fire coming from one of the town homes and discovered the victims on the second floor. Seven-year-old J'yneisha Washington and 4-year-old Ta'niyah Pate died in the fire from smoke inhalation, according to an autopsy. They were two of nearly a dozen people at the townhome when the fire started, according to fire officials.
The complex previously had issues with missing or nonworking smoke detectors. The cause of the fire was undetermined, according to a report from the fire marshal.
The mothers of two children killed last December in a Columbia apartment fire have sued the owners of the apartment complex, Yarco Company, Inc., LIH Columbia Square Associates, LLC, and LEDG Capital. Yarco is the property manager for the complex and the other two companies are owners, according to the lawsuit
That case is set to go to trial at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 13, 2025, according to court records. A pretrial conference is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Feb. 10, 2025.
