The Bronx District Attorney’s office indicted four people Wednesday in the death of Segundo Manuel Huerta Mayancela — a construction worker who died on the job in the Norwood section of the Bronx nearly four years ago.
According to the investigation, on Aug. 27, 2019, Huerta Mayancela and other workers were bringing cinder blocks and other construction materials from the second floor to the third floor of the unfinished four-story, eight-unit residential complex at 94 E. 208th St. they were working on. The platforms — which were made of metal sheets on top of metal joists — were not properly secured, and the third story collapsed onto the workers below.
Huerta Mayancela, a 46-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant, was a father of five who was working alongside family members on the day of his death, according to reporting by Norwood News. The outlet wrote that members of Local 79, the construction and general building laborers’ union, gathered to memorialize Huerta Mayancela and speak out on the prevalence of safety hazards at construction sites about two weeks after the incident.
A spokesperson from Local 79 told the Bronx Times on Thursday that he was aware of this week’s indictment, but declined to comment on it.
The investigation stated that several people on the job site received “serious injuries” that day, and Huerta Mayancela died as a result of the blunt-force trauma he sustained. There was an estimated ton — or 2,000 pounds — of material on the platform when it fell, according to the investigation.
Bronx District Attorney (DA) Darcel Clark formally charged three contractors and one associate of a contractor for the fatality Wednesday, which she said was “entirely preventable.”
“The construction site at 94 East 208th Street was a deathtrap waiting to happen,” she said in the indictment announcement. “An unqualified company allegedly used fraudulent credentials, ignored oversight requirements and building code, and built a dangerously unstable structure.”
The owners of Favored Design and Construction, Pioneer General Construction and Linzi Construction — Augustine Adesanmi, Akhlak Choudhary and Abazi Okoro respectively, as well as Fatos Mustafaj, an associate of Adesanmi’s — were formally accused for an array of wrongdoings related to Huerta Mayancela’s death. Adesanmi was charged with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and second-degree grand larceny. Choudhary was charged was charged with criminally negligent homicide and four counts of offering a false instrument for filing. Okoro was charged with criminally negligent homicide, and Mustafaj was charged with second-degree grand larceny.
The DA announcement stated that Adesanmi and Mustafaj did not have proper qualifications under the New York City Building Code to begin construction, so they allegedly falsified documents in Choudhary’s name to obtain a building permit.
And Okoro, a former employee of the NYC Department of Design and Construction, was allegedly paid $3,000 for the use of his construction superintendent credentials — a position that’s required per city building code regulations — but never actually visited the job site. Adesanmi was also supposed to be at 94 E. 208th St. during all work hours, and was allegedly not present on the day of the collapse.
Huerta Mayancela’s death also prompted action from the state with the passage of Carlos’ Law in December 2022 — which “increase(s) the penalties for criminal corporate liability for the death or serious physical injury of an employee, a felony or misdemeanor, by a fine of up to $500,000,” according to the governor’s office.
Adesanmi, Okoro and Mustafaj were arraigned in Bronx Supreme Court on Tuesday, and are due back to the chambers on June 8. Choudhary had not been arrested yet as of Wednesday, according to the DA’s office.
Reach Camille Botello at cbotello@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
