Family of woman killed in Silver Spring apartment fire files wrongful death lawsuit

SILVER SPRING, Md. ( DC News Now )– Tears flowed on Saturday morning, as Cesar Diaz recalled the loss of his daughter 25-year-old Melanie Diaz.

“I don’t have the chance to talk to my daughter anymore,” said Diaz.

Melanie, who lived on the ninth floor of the Arrive Silver Spring Apartments, died as she tried to escape the February 18, 2023 fire that broke out on the seventh floor.

She was overcome with heavy smoke in the stairwell. The building did not have a sprinkler system.

“Melanie was a superstar,” said Matthew Christ, the family’s attorney.

Melanie’s father Cesar stood outside his daughter’s building over a year after his daughter’s death to discuss the federal lawsuit he filed on September 12 against the apartment’s management, and its parent company, California-based Trinity Properties Consultants.

“Some people like to cut the corners, and didn’t want to give it to my family, or my daughter’s safety,” said Diaz.

Among the allegations in the lawsuit: The building had faulty, or no smoke detectors in the apartments and a fire safety door on the seventh floor failed on the day of the fire.

“(It) allowed the door to stay open, letting in dark plumes of smoke that would have disoriented, Melanie or other residents who would have relied on the evacuation stairwell,” said Christ.

Christ said the family filed the wrongful suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland after management and its parent company did not respond to demands.

The suit seeks $2.3 million in damages under Maryland’s Wrongful Death Act, plus another $225,000 in economic damages.

“No money is going to replace any life,” said Cesar Diaz.

Neither management nor its parent company responded to requests for comment.

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