Man Charged In Killing 36 People At California Electronic Party, Pleads Guilty And Will Not Go To Trial | The State
The place had no fire alarms, no smoke detectors, and no water sprinklers.
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Elijah Nouvelage / Getty Images
This Friday a man from the San Francisco Bay area, who was the lead tenant of an Oakland winery turned art collective, pleaded guilty to the 2016 manslaughter of 36 people.
Derick Almena, from San Francisco, faced a charge for each of the people who died in the shed for which he was responsible in 2016 known as Ghost ship, after starting a fire in the middle of a party that was taking place in the facilities.
Almena pleaded guilty to avoid a second trial, as one he faced between 2017 and 2019 ended with a divided jury with no verdict for him and with his partner, Max Harris, acquitted.
Master Tenant Pleads Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter in Ghost Ship Fire https://t.co/M16fDQ1p1h
– mlevenson (@mlevenson) January 22, 2021
The Prosecutor’s Office assured in the case against Almena that he had allowed several people to live inside the place with expensive buildings and hazardous materials, without giving notice to the owner or public authorities.
In addition to allowing various bohemian artists to live there in violation of building regulations, the man I rented the place for private events, and on the night of December 2, 2016, the lack of security that existed in the facilities was evidenced after a true hell broke loose.
In the middle of the night a fire started suddenly and given the conditions of the place the fire advanced very quickly leaving the 36 people with no opportunity to escape because there were no smoke detectors, no fire alarms, no escape route, and no water sprinklers, according to CNN.
In addition, one of the exits of the shed had been blocked, according to the attorneys, leaving all the assistants trapped.
Almena must return to court in March to receive an agreed sentence of 12 years, after reaching a plea agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office.
The man would have been in prison since 2017 and was placed under house arrest in May 2020 for the coronavirus pandemic, for good behavior and after posting a $ 150,000 bond.
It is very likely that the man do not go back to prison and serve your sentence at your residence in Upper Lake, California, where he is currently with an electronic shackle.
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