No one will be charged with a crime in the deadly 2023 collapse of a six-story apartment building in downtown Davenport.
Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunningham told Quad-City Times reporters Monday that, based on the facts of an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation report she reviewed, she concluded nothing rose to the level of criminal charges.
“Very simply, this was a horrible tragedy involving the collapse of a structural building that had been built in (1907),” Cunningham said. “There is nothing within the findings set forth in the DCI report that would merit the filing of criminal charges.”
Cunningham
The collapse of 324 Main St. on May 28, 2023, killed three people, caused a woman’s leg to be amputated and led to dozens of people losing their homes and belongings. The collapse and its response became national news, with residents in Davenport and beyond questioning how and why it happened and who was responsible.
After the collapse, the Division of Criminal Investigation opened a criminal inquiry. That investigation concluded and a report was completed and given to the county attorney’s office in April of 2024. It did not make a recommendation of charges but laid out the facts of the case from interviews and documents.
Based on those facts, Cunningham determined actions or inactions before the collapse did not constitute a crime, and the case should be left to civil court instead, where damages could be assessed.
“The prosecutor will go through that (the report) and see, ‘Is this something that belongs in the civil arena or is there some conduct here that constitutes a crime?’ And in this particular case, I will tell you that there is nothing about this fact pattern that constitutes a crime,” Cunningham said.
How did Cunningham decide not to bring charges?
Cunningham said first she ruled out homicide in the first or second degree, and voluntary manslaughter, which Cunningham said all involve someone having the intent to take the life of someone else.
Then she turned her attention to involuntary manslaughter, which Cunningham said requires someone already be engaged in a crime or reckless conduct that causes the death of another person unintentionally.
Cunningham gave an example of a deadly boat crash in LeClaire, where a boat owner was convicted of two counts of aggravated misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter. He was accused of aiding and abetting the 15-year-old at the wheel who drove recklessly along the LeClaire levee when the boat crashed into and killed two other boaters.
“For involuntary manslaughter, there has to be the commission of a crime, the commission of what we’re going to characterize generally as a public offense … that unintentionally results in the death of another,” Cunningham said of felony involuntary manslaughter.
For aggravated misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter, the defendant must have engaged in reckless conduct.
Cunningham gave another example: a person eluding police, speeding, driving recklessly and unintentionally hitting and killing another motorist.
Cunningham said in her review of the report, the building's owner had not been engaged in a crime nor reckless conduct.
A look at The Davenport on Sunday, June 4, 2023, one week after the building partially collapsed in Davenport.
FILE
'But there has to be justice'
Dayna Feuerbach lived in an fifth-floor apartment at 324 Main St. for 20 years. She fled down a stairwell after the west wall of the building collapsed on May 28, 2023.
She has been a vocal advocate for "justice for those who lived in that building."
When she learned of Cunningham's decision, she said she felt "devastated."
"It's all so depressing and demoralizing," she said. "It's like the tenants are the victims again. How would you feel if you lost everything and no one is found responsible and everyone involved can just delay and deny and they end up getting away with it?
"What kind of of justice is that?"
Feuerbach has filed a civil suit seeking damages. She is represented by attorney Jeffrey Goodman of the Philadelphia-based firm of Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, as well as Christopher D. Stombaugh of Platteville, Wisconsin-based firm DiCello Levitt.
Feuerbach questions the idea that civil litigation will offer some form of justice.
"It could be years before we are ever heard in court," she said. "And there is no way money is going to replace three lives lost, or a woman's leg. Compensation is fine. But there has to be justice, and that means someone is held accountable. You can't kill someone and then buy your way out of it."
‘Doing everything within his willpower’
Cunningham said that in her review, building owner Andrew Wold was not committing any crime or engaged in reckless conduct before the collapse of 324 Main St.
Cunningham said what she saw in the DCI report was evidence Wold tried — for months — to bring professionals to the site to make repairs to the west wall that eventually collapsed.
In September 2023 forensic engineers hired by the city of Davenport reported the root causes of the collapse were the removal of layers of brick in the days before the collapse without adequate shoring in place.
The report further stated: “Had a proper shoring and construction phasing plan been implemented during these repairs, the building would not have partially collapsed on May 28, 2023.”
Cunningham said she reviewed communications that showed Wold attempted to hire more masons, was acquiring supplies for the west wall and arranging for someone to be present in the building.
“Mr. Wold was very, very proactive, and you can even sense the energy level of him doing anything and everything that he could to try and hire more masons and get them there on the project and making inquiries, honestly to the point of begging, you know, ‘please give me a call back. I really need some help with this project.’”
“I see somebody who was doing everything within his willpower to address this particular issue,” Cunningham said.
Asked about reports that Wold rejected a masonry bid because it was too much money, Cunningham said that was taken out of context, that the project happened over months, and Wold received multiple bids for different types of work and went with another contractor.
Cunningham won’t release DCI report
Cunningham said the DCI report should be part of discovery in civil litigation and not released ahead of that time. She said plans to consult with the Iowa Public Information Board, a state board that advises on questions of public records and public meetings.
“Normally, we think about these reports having application to a criminal prosecution. This happens to be an instance where that report would have applications to civil litigation, and so the public may believe and feel that they’re entitled to have that report, but working within the judicial system, understanding the process, trying cases all the time, it is not appropriate for me to release that report,” Cunningham said. “Once they conclude that litigation and come to a conclusion, then at that point in time, it’s absolutely appropriate to do that. But I do not want any information out there in the public venue that would in any way impact the ability of either side to get a fair trial.”
Cunningham said she has had at least one attorney reach out to her to ask if she would release the report to them, but she declined and directed them to go through civil discovery.
“Then, the court can order the release of that,” Cunningham said. "That ensures compliance with Iowa Code 22.7, that indicates that those reports are confidential.”
The Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a nonprofit that advocates for public access to government business, believes that at least a summary of the DCI's report should be made public, said the council's executive director Randy Evans.
Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunningham explains her decision not to bring criminal charges in the deadly building collapse in May 2023.
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