City officials: Rental home where toddler died in fire Monday not legally registered

Kara Berg Jared Weber
Lansing State Journal
One child has died and a mother and two other children are hospitalized following a fire on Monday, July 27, 2022, at this home in the 200 block of East Cavanaugh Road in Lansing's Old Everett Neighborhood, Lansing police said.

A rental house in Lansing where a toddler died in a fire Monday was not legally registered with the city, and officials planned to discuss what they might do in response.

There were no working smoke detectors in the house on East Cavanaugh Road in the Old Everett Neighborhood when fire broke out in a back bedroom about 10:45 a.m., fire officials said.

Damian Shessia, 23 months old, was found dead in the bedroom where the fire started, Lansing fire officials said Tuesday in a news release.

Damian's mother and siblings – a 3-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy – escaped the fire and were evaluated at a hospital for smoke inhalation, Assistant Lansing Fire Chief Michael Tobin said.

City spokesman Scott Bean said the house was not registered as a rental property and was operating illegally. Landlords are required to register and license their rental units with the city, he said. The process requires regular inspections to make sure rental properties are up to fire and building codes. 

Bean said he is trying to arrange a meeting with the City Attorney Jim Smiertka, the fire department and economic development and planning office to review the matter.

But since fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, he said, it's unclear when that might happen.

City officials said Evolve Real Estate, a limited liability company based at 1483 Wellman Road in DeWitt, owns the house. The company could not be reached at email addresses and a phone number associated with the firm. No one answered the door at the Wellman Road address when a State Journal reporter knocked Tuesday morning.

The real estate company was organized in late July 2021, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs database. The company purchased the Cavanaugh Street home on Aug. 5, about a week after the company was organized.

The property's former owner, David Healy, who lives down the block, said the family moved into the home recently.

Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.