Mother of Ghost Ship fire victim relives chilling text from daughter

OAKLAND >> Fighting back tears, the mother of one of the 36 people killed in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire recounted for a jury Monday the moment she got a chilling text from her daughter: “I’m gonna die now.”

Carol Cidlik, the mother of 29-yearold victim Nicole Siegrist, was the prosecution’s first witness as testimony began in the long-awaited Ghost Ship trial.

Staring straight ahead, Cidlik fought back tears when a prosecutor showed her a photo of Siegrist. On Dec. 2, 2016 — the date of the Ghost Ship fire. Cidlik, who lives in Hawaii, said she and her daughter had texted throughout the day and night.

At 11:23 p.m., Cidlik said, she received a chilling text from Siegrist declaring she was “going to die now,”

adding that was her last communication with her daughter.

The defense attorneys did not question Cidlik, who remained in the courtroom among the audience after testifying.

Cidlik was the first witness in the Alameda County Superior Court trial against Derick Almena, 49, and Max Harris, 29, who are each charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the blaze at the warehouse in East Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood. Opening arguments were made last week

Before Cidlik testified, Superior Court Judge Trina Thompson ruled against a motion by Harris’ attorneys seeking to keep her off the stand. Defense attorney Curtis Briggs said Cidlik’s “very inflammatory” statements would “tug at the heartstrings of jurors.”

Deputy District Attorney Autrey James disagreed, calling the motion “out of order” and stating Cidlik had a right to testify.

In denying the motion, Thompson said Cidlik’s testimony would not touch on issues of who was responsible for the tragedy or her possible thoughts of retribution.

Another prosecution witness, Nicolas “Nico” Bouchard, a former business associate of Almena who co-signed the Ghost Ship lease with him, took the stand after Cidlik.

Bouchard, 27, who now lives in the Netherlands, testified that when he met Almena in 2012 he was initially excited about creating a community center and art collective at the Ghost Ship. The next year, he agreed to be the lead signer on the property lease, saying Almena asked him to do so because “I had good credit.” Bouchard said he lived in a recreational vehicle for about two weeks after signing the lease.

Bouchard testified he became alarmed after he left for two days and then returned to find a 20-foot-by20-foot hole in the upper floor, apparently to move a piano through. He said he didn’t witness the piano move, but saw pulleys still in the area.

Alarmed that he would be liable for paying the entire $4,500-a-month lease because of what he considered lease violations, he called a meeting with the collective about safety upgrades.

“Derick scoffed and laughed at us,” Bouchard testified of the meeting.

Bouchard said the suggestions to bring the building up to code came from his mother, Kathleen Bouchard, a former paralegal and television producer.

Under cross-examination by Tony Serra, Almena’s attorney, Bouchard admitted he never reported or filed any complaints about his safety concerns with authorities, including Oakland police or the fire department. Bouchard said he later learned that police and firefighters had visited the Ghost Ship to investigate concerns.

Bouchard said he also never applied for public funds, as suggested by his mother, for the safety upgrades.

He testified that he returned to visit the Ghost Ship six times after he left, including once to attend a party for Almena and his children.

On returning, he described the area as “a lot of junk” and said it was a “pretty grimy warehouse.”

“It was a bit of a labyrinth to get to the door on the other side,” Bouchard said.

Defense attorneys repeatedly have described Almena and Harris as “scapegoats” in efforts to blame someone for the fire, and have suggested the city of Oakland and its fire and police departments are culpable for the deadly blaze.

The 36 victims were trapped on the second floor where the dance party took place, unable to escape from either the staircase in the front of the warehouse facing 31st Avenue or the back staircase.