9th child dies from Little Village fire as investigators still search for cause
9 dead in Little Village fire
Nine people, identified by relatives as children, were killed in an extra-alarm fire early the morning of Aug. 26, 2018, in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood.
A ninth child has died from an apartment fire in Little Village as investigators continue examining forensic evidence to determine what started the city's deadliest blaze in at least a decade.
Cesar Contreras, 14, was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition after the Sunday fire and died Monday evening, according to the Cook County medical examiner?s office. Another 14-year-old boy remains hospitalized at Stroger, his condition too critical for investigators to interview him, officials said.
The other children who died have been identified as Amayah Almaraz, 3 months old; Alanni Ayala, 3; Gialanni Ayala, 5; Ariel Garcia, 5; Giovanni Ayala, 10; Xavier Contreras, 11; Nathan Contreras, 13; and Victor Mendoza, 16.
Most of them were first cousins. Mendoza was a close family friend, according to Krystle Sauseda, 31, who said she is an aunt to many of the victims.
They were at a sleep-over at the apartment in the 2200 block of South Sacramento Avenue when the fire broke out before 4 a.m. Sunday, according to fire officials and relatives. It's unclear if any adults were in the home at the time.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services said it is investigating allegations of neglect involving the children. The agency had prior contact with three families involved in the fire, but none were under investigation at the time of the fire, according to Alissandra Calderon, a spokeswoman for the agency. She would not release the results of the agency?s investigations.
Police and fire officials have yet to determine what caused the fire and whether it was an accident or intentionally set, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
There was evidence of both fireworks and smoking materials in the back enclosed porch, where the fire is believed to have started, according to Larry Langford, Chicago Fire Department spokesman. Officials have ruled out electrical problems as a possible fire source, based on the findings of an engineer with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, he said.
Fire investigators have found no evidence of smoke detectors where the children were sleeping, Langford said. The home had two bedrooms, but some of the children were asleep in the living room area. No one was found on the porch.
?Had there been working smoke detectors, the death toll would have been less or nonexistent,? he said.
Alice Gutierrez, who is related to the owner of the building, said the owner had installed smoke detectors in the apartment about four months ago. She could not explain why none were found in working order after the fire.
A man walks by a memorial with images of victims on an iron gate on Aug. 27, 2018, in front of a vacant house near where nine were killed in a house fire in the 2200 block of South Sacramento Avenue. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Public records show a history of poor conditions at the Sacramento property. Tenants have filed multiple complaints with the city?s 311 service since at least 2015 over problems with bedbugs, doors falling off hinges and sinking floors, the records show.
One complaint from October 2015 said, ?Rats and bed bugs in coach house and the landlord will not do anything about it." There was a hearing but it was not known how the problem was resolved.
In August of 2015, the city sent a notice of violation to the property owner over a separate complaint that the apartment was "infested with bed bugs, doors are falling off the hinges, tile coming up off the kitchen floor," records show.
Last year, complaints about bedbugs and other unsafe conditions were closed by city inspectors, who did not find any violations, records show.
Most recently, the property came to the city?s attention in June when a tenant complained, said Gregg Cunningham, a spokesman for the city?s Buildings Department. The department inspected the building on June 8 and found two electrical code violations, he said.
Chicago firefighters pass out smoke detectors on Aug. 27, 2018, to nearby residents following the fatal fire in the 2200 block of Sacramento Avenue in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
One of the violations was for an extension cord that ran from the rear building to the main apartments, according to the city?s legal filings. The other was for electrical grounding that caused a basement tenant to get shocked from a tub faucet.
That case was set for a court date in late September.
The landlord also owns at least one more apartment in Little Village, for which he's also been disciplined, records show. In 2014, the city issued violations for a unit in the 2300 block of South Drake Avenue that didn't have a carbon monoxide detector, was kept at low temperatures, didn't have a working space heater and didn't have hot water, court records show.
In response, more than $2,000 worth of repairs was made to the apartment and paid for by the landlord.
A memorial of crosses, candles, flowers and balloons is growing Aug. 27, 2018, near the site of the fatal fire in the 2200 block of Sacramento Avenue. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
About 200 people gathered near the scene of the fire Monday evening for a vigil. Several boys leaned against a silver Acura SUV parked along a row of white crosses surrounded by flickering candles and commemorative tokens, talking about their friend, Xavier Contreras.
"We were at Limas Park ? did I show you this?" Benny Estrada, a community activist, asked the boys. They crowded around his phone.
"He finally did it!" one of the boys said, grinning wide.
On the screen, the 11-year-old Xavier sat in a swing, gripping its chains, his legs pumping against a dark sky. Dressed in a white T-shirt and gray joggers, he swung back and forth, gaining momentum until his black sneakers flipped over his head. He let go of the swing and tucked his legs underneath. He landed on his feet, his palms touching the ground for just a second as he stumbled forward. But he didn't fall.
Xavier mastered the trick days before his death at a community barbecue at a park at Trumbull Avenue and 24th Street. He'd been working on it over the summer.
"He's like, 'Record me, record me,' " Estrada said. "I told him not to hit his head."
Along a fence bordering the sidewalk hung posters, photographs and shiny balloons spelling out the children's names. Messages of love and memories decorated the posters.
"We love you watch over us," read one.
"I remember all the fun times we had together," read another.
And, "I (heart) you best friend."