BRONX, NY – Yesterday, Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber announced that three contractors have been charged in the 2019 death of a construction worker at a Bronx building site. The worker, Segundo Manuel Huerta Mayancela, was crushed by 1,000 pounds of debris in an egregiously dangerous building site. The joint investigation revealed that the builders falsified credentials and permits, ignored safety regulations, and built a dangerously unstable structure.
The contractors, Augustine Adesanmi, owner of Favored Design and Construction; Akhlak Choudhary, owner of Pioneer General Construction; and Abazi Okoro, owner of Linzi Construction, have been charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. A fourth man, Fatos Mustafaj, was charged with fraud in relation to the incident.
The death of the Ecuadoran immigrant led to the passage of Carlos’ Law, which increases penalties for criminal corporate liability for the death or serious physical injury of an employee by a fine of up to $500,000. This case predates the statute, but future construction-related fatalities in the Bronx will be met with this important legal tool.