Police ID woman killed in blaze at Colonial Village apartments on East Side
The Columbus Division of Police has identified a woman who died in an apartment fire on Sunday night at the troubled Colonial Village apartment complex on the city’s East Side.
Laronda Bazemore, 59, was found inside an apartment on the 3600 block of Allendale Drive at Colonial Village apartments by Columbus firefighters responding to a report of a structural blaze at 7:50 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 17, according to a news release issued Thursday. Medics pronounced Bazemore dead at the scene at 7:56 p.m.
Columbus police homicide detectives also responded to the apartment complex to investigate the discovery, and they are treating the incident as a suspicious death.
The fire and ongoing homicide investigation are the latest in a string of problems that have put the troubled Colonial Village apartment complex under increased scrutiny by city officials.
More than 860 residents at the apartment complex have been ordered by the management company to vacate the complex by the end of December so that extensive repairs and renovations can be completed to bring all apartments up to code as demanded by the city.
Residents of apartments without heat were ordered by the city to be out by Friday, Dec. 15. It was not immediately clear if the apartment where the fire occurred had heat or not.
In early 2022, the complex was put under a court-ordered receivership after a litany of code violations. In October, the company who had been managing the property was banned from the premises, with court filings from the Columbus City Attorney’s office alleging one of that company’s employees may have been involved in a human trafficking scheme that led to more than 800 Haitian immigrants coming to Columbus and living at the complex.
Anyone with information regarding the fire death is asked to contact Columbus police Homicide Unit Detective J. Wood at (614) 645-4080 or call Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461TIPS (8477).
@Shahidmeighan smeighan@dispatch.com