YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – One of the attorneys for the estate of a man killed in the explosion at the Realty Tower last year wants details of a lawsuit settlement to be sealed.
Akil Drake, an employee of the Chase Bank branch on the first floor of Realty was killed in the May 28, 2024, explosion that also injured several others. His family sued Yo Properties 47 LLC, the property owner; LY Property Management LLC; GreenHeart Companies LLC; East Ohio Gas Co.; Enbridge Elephant Holdings; Enbridge Alternatives Fuel LLC; Enbridge Pipelines Inc.; Enbridge Genoa U.S. Holdings LLC; Enbridge Inc.; Enbridge Gas Distribution LLC; Dominion Energy Questar Corp.; and Dominion Energy Inc.
Last month, another attorney representing Drake’s estate said the case had been settled, but no details were released.
Attorney Patrick McFarland, one of the attorneys representing the estate, filed a motion earlier this month in Mahoning County Probate Court asking that those settlement details be sealed.
“The incident which gives rise to the death of [Drake] involves continued litigation involving multiple lawsuits and hundreds of claimants, and, as part of the respective proposed settlements” defendants included specifications that the “amounts and terms of the respective settlements be confidential,” the motion says.
Judge Robert N. Rusu of Mahoning County Probate Court set a 1:30 p.m. May 12 hearing on the motion.
Several other lawsuits have been filed stemming from the explosion and its aftermath, including by other injured, Realty residents and residents of the nearby International Towers.
Realty’s owners had the building razed last summer, citing structural instability.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.
Pictured at top: A Chase Bank sign is seen on the Realty Tower after the May 28, 2024, explosion at the building.