The lawsuit, filed Oct. 23 in D.C. Superior Court by Debra Lee Carter, seeks $10 million in compensatory damages and another $10 million in punitive damages.

Sgt. John Carter was killed Oct. 24, 1997, while fighting a fire in a grocery store at 400 Kennedy St. NW. While inside the structure, Carter fell through the floor of the building into the basement, where he drowned in the water being pumped into the building to put out the fire. Carter’s distress calls were not heard and the officers in charge of the scene were not aware Carter was missing for 14 minutes. Carter was the first firefighter killed in the line of duty in the District in 13 years.

The fire department re-leased a report Oct. 14 which cited an inadequate command structure at the fire scene and a malfunctioning radio Carter was carrying as factors in his death.

"I would say the (fire department’s) report was certainly the catalyst for the complaint," said James W. Taglieri, Carter’s attorney.

Fire Chief Donald Edwards could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit.

Taglieri said his firm is conducting its own investigation of the incident.

"We are certainly not confining ourselves to the scope of the fire department’s report," Taglieri said.

Other defendants named in the complaint include Motorola Inc., which manufactured the radio Carter was carrying, and the owners and proprietors of the grocery store.

Louis Shankman, one of the defendants in the case, would not comment on the complaint but did say he no longer owns the property. Shankman said he sold the property in January and it remains vacant.

None of the other defendants named in the complaint could be reached for comment.

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator