LANSING, MI — The investigation into the death of 43 year old Tarshrika Beasley and her son, Elijah Brown, 5-years-old, is ongoing. June 7th was her 43rd birthday and the day of the fire.
An earlier report stated that the fire was confined to the kitchen and the smoke detectors were working in the two story townhome.
In the LaRoy Froh apartment where Beasley and her son lived, inspectors found damaged outlets in the bedroom, a bathroom vent fan that didn't work, a clogged vent cover, among other things during a 2016 inspection from City of Lansing’s Code Compliance. In 2017, Housing Urban Development (HUD) also inspected the property. The repairs to be made written in the inspection do not show they were complete.
There appears to be confusion regarding who was responsible for the follow up while Virg Bernero was the mayor of Lansing.
The television station WNLS reports that Joan Jackson Johnson, Director of Lansing Human Relations and Community Services, who was employed during 2016 and 2017 said, “One person thought that HUD would supersede the city, and the city is now saying no.”
Last Thursday's fire has forced the city's hand to speed up the process of inspecting all 834 public housing units for any code violation.
During a news conference Mayor Andy Schor made remarks regarding the tragic event and stated that the goal is to have all of the inspections completed in 3 months. Mayor Schor was elected into office on January 1, 2018.
