Staff file photo / Ed Runyan This photo, taken a short time after the Realty Tower exploded May 28, 2024, shows firefighters and others rescuing victims from the building on Central Square downtown. One person was killed and others were injured.

YOUNGSTOWN — One of the lawsuits filed in the aftermath of the May 28 Realty Tower explosion downtown that killed Chase Bank employee Akil Drake, 27, was recently resolved through settlement in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, and several others remain on the docket of Visiting Judge W. Wyatt McKay.

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy appointed McKay on Feb. 7 to handle several explosion lawsuits filed in common pleas court, according to court records. It resulted in McKay, a retired former Trumbull County Common Pleas Court judge, holding a hearing Tuesday in the pending cases.

News was released later Tuesday that the lawsuit filed by family members of Drake had been settled, according to multiple news outlets and others not wishing to be quoted. Attempts Wednesday to confirm the settlement with the attorneys representing Drake’s family were not successful. No details of the settlement have been released, but attorney Ben Whitman of Florida, one of the attorneys in that matter, told a local media outlet that the settlement will need to be approved by Mahoning County Probate Court before it becomes official.

Plaintiffs in that lawsuit include Sharnette Crite-Evans of Pittsburgh, administrator of the estate of Akil Drake, according to court records. The suit was filed June 8 and named various defendants, including the owner of the Realty Tower, a management company, a construction company and several natural gas- related companies.

The suit alleged the defendants’ actions or omissions were negligent and that Drake was “unlawfully killed.” The defendants responded to the allegations in August, in some cases giving a blanket denial of responsibility for Drake’s death.

The natural gas-related companies in the lawsuit stated they were prohibited from commenting on the facts of the case, while the local companies that own and operate the building alleged the fault for Drake’s death lies with parties not named in the lawsuit and possibly Drake himself.

NTSB

The preliminary report of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the explosion, stated the 13-story downtown building exploded at 2:44 p.m. May 28, killing Drake and injuring others.

A four-person scrap removal crew hired by GreenHeart Companies and contracted by Youngstown was moving utilities in an underground vault / Realty basement area under East Federal Street in preparation for a road improvement project when a crew member cut what he thought was a “dead” natural gas line.

The crew member heard a whistling sound and felt gas blowing into his face from the cut pipe, and the crew called 911 to report the leak. As they exited the building at 2:39 p.m., a crew member pulled the fire alarm on the first floor to alert residents and workers in the building. Another crew member notified bank employees on the first floor about the gas leak, the report stated.

The response filed by YO Properties 47, the company that owns Realty Tower; and LY Property Management, the company that manages it, did not indicate who all of the parties are who are responsible for Drake’s death, but it alleges Drake “was comparatively negligent” and that Drake “assumed the risk of injury.”

The response stated YO Properties and LY Property Management “owed no duty to” Drake and that any liability for his death and the liability “must be apportioned among all liable parties and non-parties from whom (the lawsuit is) not seeking recovery.”

OTHER VICTIMS

Among the other civil suits now being handled by McKay is one brought by individuals who were injured in the explosion, as well as tenants who lived in the Realty Tower, which was later demolished.

Youngstown-area attorney Frank Cassese, one of the attorneys handling that case, said Wednesday in an email, “We were part of the pretrial” held Tuesday, but “We have not resolved any lawsuits at this point.”

Plaintiffs in that lawsuit are Caroline Pizarro; her daughter, Ariadna Pizzaro; Christina Will; Richard Will; Susie A. Page; and Vito Colella.

Caroline Pizarro was at work in her office in the Chase Bank branch on the first floor at the time of the explosion, according to Vindicator files. She suffered injuries to her eyes, face and legs. Officials have said only bank employees were on the first floor at the time of the explosion, not customers. The bank used the first floor.

The Pizarro lawsuit sought damages for Ariadna Jiminez-Pizarro, Pizarro’s daughter, because of “loss of support from reasonably expected earning capacity of Caroline Pizarro” and other losses.

INTERNATIONAL TOWERS

Another lawsuit pending before McKay is one filed by more than 50 International Towers tenants who were forced from their apartment building for nearly two months as a result of the explosion at the Realty Tower, which was next door to the International Towers.

That lawsuit, filed by attorney Joseph Joseph Jr. of Beachwood, sought class-action status so that all International Towers tenants, about 170 in total, could receive punitive damages.

The lawsuit alleged the International Towers residents “suffered personal effects such as confusion, mental anguish, undue stress, headaches, restlessness, sleeplessness and experienced significant fright, increased anxiety, panic attacks, worry, concern emotional trauma and depression, and each has suffered other damages and difficulties, including but not limited to the significant disruption of their daily lives and activities and other inconveniences.”

The International Towers residents are elderly, have medical conditions and / or disabilities that require special needs, according to the lawsuit.

The evacuation caused “significant disruption that affected their daily lives and regularly scheduled routines,” the lawsuit stated. “The foregoing havoc resulted from the negligent conduct, acts, errors and / or omissions and / or failed supervision of the named defendants in their handling of the work being performed at the Realty Tower building.”

An attempt to contact Joseph regarding that lawsuit Wednesday was not successful.