More parents of fire victims join legal fight

Troy and Cheryl Estes, whose son Dru died in the Iconic Village apartment fire, are the latest parties to file a lawsuit against the apartment complex’s owners and managers. Their suit was filed in Travis County on Sept. 27 and, like most of the other lawsuits prompted by the fire, names Iconic Village owners San Marcos Green Investors, management company Elevate Multifamily, and managers Deborah Jones and Thomas Steubing as defendants. 

Sean Lyons, who is representing the Estes family, said that the parents want to know why Dru Estes was not able to escape the fire. Moreover, he said, they want to make sure that a fire like the Iconic Village blaze never happens again. Lyons pointed out that the investigation is ongoing.

Five Iconic Village residents died in the fire. The first lawsuit regarding the blaze was filed by Phillip Miranda, whose son James was killed in the fire. Marisela Rodriguez, who lost her daughter Belinda Moats in the fire, is named as an intervenor in the Miranda lawsuit, with The Estate of Belinda Moats listed as a party in the suit. There are, to date, 10 plaintiffs listed in the Miranda lawsuit besides Miranda and Rodriguez. 

The parents of David Ortiz and Haley Frizzell, two other residents who died in the Iconic Village fire, joined the lawsuit filed by the parents of Zachary Sutterfield, who received head trauma and burns over 70 percent of his body in the blaze. The Sutterfield case does not list Steubing among the defendants. Jennifer Akre, counsel for the defendants, has not commented on any of the pending lawsuits, all of which have been filed in Travis County district courts. The lawsuits claim negligence and gross negligence on the part of the defendants.

In the early morning hours of July 20, a fire broke out in a building at the Iconic Village apartment complex. The fire spread to another building in the complex and to some apartments in the neighboring Vintage Pads complex. Five residents were killed, numerous many were injured, and about 200 were displaced by the blaze. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is heading up the investigation.