DETROIT _ A man who lived in the Detroit apartment building that caught fire this week was charged Friday with killing five men who died in the blaze.
Henry Keith Jackson, 55, was arraigned on five counts of first-degree felony murder, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office announced. He also was arraigned on five counts of first-degree arson for the fire Wednesday at the eight-unit apartment building.
The property owner, Irvin Beauford, told the Detroit Free Press Jackson might have had a dispute with another tenant. "Him and one of the guys got into it. That's what I know," Beauford said when reached by phone after Worthy announced the charges.
The Wayne County Medical Examiner's office is still working to identify the victims due to the condition of the bodies, according to a spokesman for county executive Warren Evans.
The apartment building was not properly registered with the city as a rental property, officials said Friday.
City inspectors last reviewed the apartment building's exterior in 2014, according to David Bell, director of the Detroit Building Safety Engineering and Environmental Department.
The 2014 inspection showed that Beauford, the property owner, lacked various paperwork required for rental properties. The city told Beauford then to arrange for an interior inspection, a lead inspection, to register the building as a rental property and to get a certificate of compliance. He did none of that, according to Bell.
The Detroit Fire Marshal last inspected the property in January 2013 and it was up to code.
When reached by phone Friday, Beauford said he was driving and could not answer questions about his property being noncompliant with city rules for rental properties.
Fire authorities described the property as a type of group home.
However, Beauford said the apartment building was not a group home. He described the facility as "semi-independent living" and the residents as "homeless, really."
Jackson appeared via video for his arraignment in 36th District Court. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
In addition to the fatalities, four people were injured during the fire: a 70-year-old man, a 67-year-old man, a 56-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman.
Wind gusts that topped more than 60 mph hampered firefighters' efforts in battling the blaze.
