Owner settles lawsuit over deadly Ohio house fire for $360K

AKRON, Ohio – The owner of an Ohio home where a fire killed two adults and two girls is settling a lawsuit claiming she’s liable because the rental property lacked smoke detectors.

Cleveland.com reports owner Joni Laidig and her insurer agreed to pay $360,000 to settle the suit over the December fire in Akron. That’s the sum of $72,000 payments to the estates of the four who died and to one survivor.

The site says Laidig’s attorney didn’t return a call about the settlement.

Officials determined that unattended food on a gas stove caused the fire. It killed 36-year-old Omar Riley; 33-year-old Shirley Wallis; and two sisters, 9-year-old Aniyla Riley and 8-year-old Shanice Riley.

Their estates claim the stove was defective in a separate, pending lawsuit against General Electric, which denies those allegations.

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Information from: cleveland.com, http://www.cleveland.com