The burned out remains of a fire in which two people died last week are seen, in Old Montreal, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Two men face two counts of second-degree murder each, as well as charges of arson causing bodily harm.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
Two young men arrested in connection with a fire that killed a mother and a daughter in Old Montreal last week have been charged with second-degree murder.
The Crown prosecutor’s office identified the accused as Justin Fortier-Trahan, 20, and Juventino Hernandez Pelaez, 18, both from Montreal.
They face two counts of second-degree murder each, as well as charges of arson causing bodily harm in the Oct. 4 fire. They have also been charged with arson in connection with another fire that took place roughly two hours earlier at a building on Wellington Street in Montreal’s Sud-Ouest borough.
The two men were scheduled to appear in court Saturday morning in Montreal.
Police said Friday that the young men were arrested in the Saint-Laurent and Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve boroughs. They said one suspect lit the fire and the other drove their getaway vehicle.
While they did not offer a motive, police said the two men were known to authorities. They said the investigation is continuing and more arrests could follow.
A French woman, Léonor Geraudie, 43, and her daughter, Vérane Reynaud-Geraudie, 7, died in the Oct. 4 blaze. Two other people were injured. There were 25 people in the building at the time of the fire, according to police.
The incident has many similarities to a catastrophic blaze that killed seven people in March, 2023, in another building owned by the same man, Émile Benamor, in the same borough. Both buildings had a history of safety issues.
Quebec’s chief coroner announced there would be a public inquiry into the fire, which could be merged with the inquiry into the 2023 incident given “the similar facts” between the two.
Fire inspection records show that the building in the latest tragedy had more than a dozen non-compliances identified in 2020. It is unclear from the reports whether any of the non-compliances were ever corrected. Fire department officials have said that as of spring 2024, the building was deemed safe.
As uncovered by The Globe last year, the Montreal fire department had a lax policy on fire safety issues such as alarm systems and means of evacuation enforcement. The policy was repealed after the March, 2023, fire and The Globe’s reporting, which triggered official investigations into the department’s deficient prevention methods.
That fire was ruled criminal by Montreal police, who have said they submitted a report to the Crown prosecutor for analysis. No charges have yet been laid in this case.
With a report from The Canadian Press