INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit following a January 2023 apartment fire that left her two children and their father dead.
Raymond Diggs Jr, 31, Leilani Rembert, 1, and Reina Rembert, 3, all died in the days after the fire of injuries and smoke inhalation.
The girls’ mother, Jaiwana Rembert, was not home at the time the fire broke out.
“It was just something to come home and be surrounded by my children and their love every day,” said Rembert. “And now that I don't have that, I have a hole inside me. No matter what I do or how I try to cope, I cannot fill that hole ."
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Jaiwana Rembert filed the wrongful death lawsuit on August 16 against Briergate Apartments and Beztak Management Company.
The lawsuit alleges the apartment did not have adequate or properly placed smoke detectors in Rembert’s apartment.
“This was an egregious thing that happened,” said Rembert.
The lawsuit alleges the apartment failed to install smoke detectors in each bedroom and in the living room according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
"There's an ordinance that requires places like Briergate apartments to properly place smoke detectors pursuant to the manufacturer's guidelines,” said Rembert’s attorney Dan Chamberlain. “They simply ignored that. They ignored the law. "
The lawsuit also alleges that the smoke detectors that were in place were 24 inches below the apartment’s highest ceiling, which likely delayed the detector’s response to smoke.
“This was a smoky fire,” said Chamberlain. “The two children and Raymond died of smoke inhalation. It was totally preventable.”
The family tried to get out but a window was either “jammed or inoperable,” according to the lawsuit.
“I have nightmares about it. It's a very touchy subject,” said Rembert.
"Raymond woke up and he went and tried to save his kids, and you can see the blood throughout the unit where he tried to break out a window that was stuck,” said Chamberlain. “You can't rent an apartment with a stuck window in a kids' room and NOT properly place smoke detectors throughout the unit. He had no chance to save their lives."
Rembert’s older children survived, but she said they’re still struggling.
“I also want to open up a foundation in Raymond, Reina and Leilani's names whether it's to provide adequate smoke detectors or just educate the public about things we think we know but we really don't,” said Rembert.
WRTV Investigates is working to reach Briergate Apartments and Beztak Properties for comment via phone and email.
A spokesperson for Beztak Properties provided the following statement.
"While the deaths of the individuals is tragic and Oakland Management offers its condolences to the family, Oakland Management does not have any liability related to the incident," read the statement.
Oakland Management is a third-party, non-owner management company of Briergate Apartments. Beztak is a marketing brand name of Oakland Management, said the spokesperson.
Indianapolis Fire Department says the cause of the fire was accidental. While they could not determine what caused the fire, they could not rule out “smoking or electrical in the couch.”
