Utah man charged with manslaughter in death of tenant has died

The 4th District Courthouse in Provo on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. A man facing a charge of manslaughter for a fire that killed a woman in a building that he rented to her has died before his trial began.

The 4th District Courthouse in Provo on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. A man facing a charge of manslaughter for a fire that killed a woman in a building that he rented to her has died before his trial began. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)


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PROVO — A man who was awaiting trial on a charge of manslaughter for allegedly renting out a building described as a "death trap" to a woman who was killed in a fire has died.

According to his obituary, Homer Workman, 72, of Fountain Green, died on Jan. 10 after a brief illness.

Workman, along with Kelly Taylor Ellis, 68, of Draper, were charged in 4th District Court in 2018 with manslaughter or in the alternative negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, not having a license to rent a dwelling, failing to meet minimum health and safety standards, violation of a conditional use permit and having an illegal caretaker facility.

Ellis owned a building at 1455 S. State in Provo, a video rental store converted into living space. But the structure was uninhabitable by city standards and remained so despite the city's efforts to work with both Ellis and Workman, who rented the structure to live in.

The city attempted to work with the men since 2012 to make required safety improvements to bring the property up to city standards, according to charging documents. Both men "had been informed by the city that the structure could not be lived in without meeting upgrade requirements," the charges state. "The city also informed the defendants that in order to have a caretaker residence, there needed to be a business license. A license was never obtained.

"The city granted a conditional use permit, which required improvements to the property, but the improvements were never made," the charges state.

When Workman moved out, he began renting the room to others, including 48-year-old Donna Clegg and her ex-husband. But Workman had the electricity to the apartment turned off on May 29, 2018, without telling the renters, the charges state.

Ellis, the property owner, was aware of the arrangement and continued to take rent money from Workman, even though he described the building as a "death trap" and a "tinderbox," according to the charges.

On June 1, 2018, a fire started in the apartment and Clegg was unable to get out and died of smoke inhalation. Although the cause of the fire could not be determined, investigators noted that windows and a door were blocked, preventing Clegg from getting out, and the tenants had been using candles for light, the charges state. Provo fire officials in 2018 stated that Ellis knew the building was "too high a risk to be insured" and that there were no smoke detectors inside.

Following a preliminary hearing in September, the case was bound over for trial in December. A pre-trial conference for Ellis is scheduled for Feb. 15. On Jan. 18, prosecutors filed a motion to have the charges against Workman dismissed.

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Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.

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