YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Citing the public nature of Akil Drake’s death in the Realty Tower explosion, Mahoning County Probate Judge Robert N. Rusu Jr. ruled that the terms of a settlement agreement in a wrongful death case brought by his family should be public.

Attorneys for the family of Drake, the Chase Bank employee killed in the May 28, 2024, Realty Tower explosion, wanted the settlement and distribution to be sealed.

“After considering the factors in [an Ohio Supreme Court case] and after hearing all of the legal arguments, the Court does not find that the parties met their burden of proof and did not exhibit by clear and convincing evidence that the presumption of allowing public access is outweighed by a higher interest,” the judge wrote in a Friday judgment entry.

Drake’s 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.

In March, one of the attorneys for the estate said the case had been settled, but no details were released. 

Last month, attorney Patrick McFarland, one of the attorneys representing the estate, filed a motion in probate court asking that those settlement details be sealed.

Rusu in his entry referenced another case involving a public death in which the state’s high court “stated that judicial proceedings are public records and they construed” the state’s public records act “liberally in favor of broad access in disclosing probate settlement records.”

The judge’s decision follows a hearing earlier this week.

“Several times the court gave the parties the opportunity to provide the court with factors … that support the restriction of public access … and the parties simply failed to do so and meet their burden of proof,” he wrote.

The parties have seven days to appeal.

Pictured at top: A Chase Bank sign is seen on the Realty Tower after the May 28, 2024, explosion at the building.