Housing inspectors said they found hundreds of violations at a Columbia Heights apartment building where a 9-year-old boy was fatally shot and police continued their search for his killer, authorities said.
Oscar Fuentes was killed late Saturday inside a troubled apartment building after police said family members ran into the home to avoid a robbery. It appeared the gunman shot through the closed front door.
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Inspectors swept through the building at 1433 Columbia Road on Monday and found numerous violations, including broken smoke detectors, bed bugs, damp walls and peeling paint, said Linda Argo, head of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
The lock and knob at the entrance to the building had been removed, probably by drug dealers who camp out on the front of the property and hide the drugs inside, like in the movie “New Jack City,” a law enforcement source said.
The property received only one inspection request, and that was for trash on the outside of the building, Argo said. It is not unusual for illegal immigrants to not report poor living conditions to authorities for fear of being deported, a house official said.
The office of D.C. Councilman Jim Graham is collecting donations for the Fuentes family. Contibutions can be sent to 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 105, Washington, D.C., 20004. Checks should be made payable to M. Fuentes.
— Scott McCabe
