The mother of a firefighter killed while operating at a New York adult care home in 2021 is crushed by the recent dismissal of charges against a former village building official.
Sabrail Davenport fears no one will be held responsible for the death of her son, Spring Valley Firefighter Jared Lloyd, 35, who became trapped while trying to rescue a resident from Evergreen Court Home for Adults, The Rockland/Westchester Journal News reported.
A resident, Oliver Huested, 79, also died in the blaze that was sparked hours after a 20-pound blowtorch was used to cleanse the ovens and kitchen for Passover on March 22, 2021.
It took crews more than 24 hours to find Lloyd's body in the rubble.
Davenport said she's losing confidence in Rockland District Attorney Thomas Walsh who had promised justice for the victims when he announced the arrests of six people. Charges have been dropped in several cases, which has angered Lloyd's family and fellow firefighters.
Judge Kevin Russo dismissed two charges against Wayne Ballard on Thursday saying prosecutors had failed to prove that he knowingly provided false information in a state report and had any intent to defraud the New York State Department of State in the report.
A grand jury had charged Ballard with offering a false instrument for filing in the first and second degrees. Russo dismissed the grand jury's third count of second-degree falsifying a business record.
"We are saddened and disappointed by Judge Russo’s decision. The people believe that sufficient evidence was presented to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," Walsh's Chief of Detectives Peter Walker told reporters.
Ballard's lead attorney, Sanford Talkin, said the prosecutors lacked a case against Ballard, once the elected Clarkstown public works superintendent. He asked Russo to dismiss the charges after prosecutors closed their case. The bench trial started Tuesday.
"The judge agreed that there was clearly no intent to defraud by Mr. Ballard, and there was absolutely no evidence that Mr. Ballard knew that any of the information in the report was false," Talkin said. "The information, in fact, was not false."
On Feb. 14, a former inspector Ray Canario and Rabbi Nathaniel Sommer and his son Aaron, who faces felony counts including manslaughter related to causing the fire and deaths are expected in court. They've pleaded not guilty.
"I am disappointed. I am concerned that this case is setting me up for major disappointments with the upcoming trials. I pray not. Somebody should go to jail for Jared's death," Lloyd's mother told reporters.
