Antonio Espaillat López and Maribel Espaillat are accused of involuntary manslaughter

The owner of the Jet Set and his sister are under investigation for involuntary manslaughter due to the negligence they exhibited in the care of the nightclub’s roof, which ultimately collapsed, causing 236 deaths and more than 180 injuries

Santo Domingo.– The Public Ministry arrested this Thursday the owner of the Jet Set nightclub, Antonio Espaillat López, and his sister Maribel Espaillat, whom it is investigating for the crime of involuntary manslaughter.

Both defendants showed “immense irresponsibility and negligence” by failing to carry out a physical intervention that would have prevented the roof of the entertainment center from collapsing, as it finally did, causing 236 deaths and more than 180 injuries.

The Espaillat brothers were arrested after being questioned by the head of the General Directorate of Prosecution of the Public Ministry, Deputy Prosecutor Wilson Camacho, who summoned them to his office. The investigated individuals will be presented before the permanent attention judge of the National District to determine coercive measures.

The arrest warrant managed by Camacho before Fátima Scarlette Veloz Suárez, presiding judge of the Tenth Instruction Court of the National District, explains that both investigated committed involuntary manslaughter, in accordance with Article 319 of the Dominican Penal Code.

The document explains that the two “showed immense irresponsibility and negligence, by not doing what was necessary for the roof of the Jet Set Club to be properly and expertly intervened to avoid a tragedy that would claim the lives of the public and its employees who trusted in the supposed safety of the place, as finally happened“. The document also alludes to actions taken by the defendants to try to intimidate or manipulate employees of the company Inversiones E y L, S.R.L., which managed the Jet Set Club nightclub, and who may serve as witnesses in this process.