Wrongful death alleged in Willows fire

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The families of the three victims killed in a fire at the Willows of Coventry Apartment Complex in January of 2009 have filed a wrongful death suit.

NewsChannel 15's obtained the eight page document filed Tuesday in Allen Superior Court. The suit includes three counts of wrongful death, one for each of the victims: Lara Punches, Jennifer Spurgeon, and Renea Patton.

It's been filed against Dial Equities, the owners of the apartment complex, and the International Business College where the girls went to school.

The complaint lays out specific reasons for each of those counts, and says both the complex and school failed to provide a safe place for the victims.

It alleges both parties failed to maintain properly safe electrical outlets, failed to provide evacuations, and failed to inspect for fire hazards, among other things.

The victims were roommates in the apartment that was serving as a dorm for the International Business College.

The suit seeks an unspecified amount of money, and also seeks damages for emotional suffering. The mothers of two of the victims were on the phones with their daughters as they were dying.

It took the Fort Wayne Fire Department months to eventually release findings about how the fire started. Fire officials eventually blamed the fire on an electrical problem, sparking concerns about the complex's building code and the way the department responded.

The suit asks for a jury trial, but the mother of one of the victims, Martha Punches, told NewsChannel 15 Wednesday that it will likely be settled out of court.

Punches says, if anything, she hopes the suit will get the ball rolling to get more questions answered about exactly what happened that day.

That's because most of the records, and 911 calls from that day, have yet to be released by the City of Fort Wayne.

To read the entire lawsuit document, click here .