A grieving mother blames son’s death on shoddy building maintenance ...Middle East

Ashston Place in downtown Durham is a 51-unit apartment building for seniors 55 and older. (Photo: Greg Childress/NC Newsline)

It’s been almost a year since Debra Davies’s son, Jason Lamonté Pulliam, died in an incident in her apartment building in downtown Durham.

Pulliam, 39, died Nov. 25, 2024, three days before Thanksgiving, in the Ashton Place laundry room after emergency responders arrived “too late” to revive him. 

Pulliam, who was visiting his mother, suffered heart failure after he and a tenant became trapped in the laundry room. The electronic door malfunctioned, and neither had a cellphone with them to call for help.

“They couldn’t open the door to get out,” Davies said. “You’re supposed to be able to open the door to walk out and you only have to swipe with a fob to go in.”

Davies said the tenant pounded furiously on washers and dryers, trying desperately to alert nearby tenants that she and Pulliam were trapped.

Pulliam, who had congestive heart failure dating to the COVID-19 era, complained that he couldn’t breathe and asked the tenant for help, Davies said.

Other tenants heard the commotion in the laundry room, Davies said, but were “afraid to open the door” because they didn’t know what was going on. They thought there might be “someone in there fighting,” she said.

Eventually, emergency responders arrived, but it was too late to save Pulliam.

“They tried to revive him, but they couldn’t,” Davies said. “So because that door malfunctioned, they [Pulliam and the tenant] couldn’t get help.” 

Davies, a retired assistant clerk of Superior Court in Durham, has hired a lawyer and said she is pursuing legal claims against Downtown Home Improvement Corporation Inc. (DHIC), the Raleigh-based nonprofit developer of the 51-unit affordable housing complex for residents 55 and older, and Community Management Corporation, the company DHIC hired to manage the property. 

Yolanda Winstead, president of DHIC, said she is not at liberty to discuss Pulliam’s death due to possible legal action by Davies, but later provided this statement: “Based on our investigation, Ashton Place was not responsible for this unfortunate death that happened to occur on the premises.”

She directed further questions about Pulliam to Jack Bayliss of Carruthers & Roth, the legal firm representing DHIC. 

“It’s sad whenever a young person passes away like this, but Ashton Place doesn’t have any responsibility for his death, and that’s our position on the matter,” Bayliss said. “You know, our sympathies go out to Ms. [Debra] Davies, losing her son, but that’s about all we have to say on the matter at this point.”

Pulliam’s death underscores concerns and complaints made by Ashton Place tenants and those at nearby Willard Street Apartments about the management of the two apartment buildings, both developed by DHIC and managed by Community Management Corporation. 

Tenants say it takes months to make repairs. They also complain about building cleanliness and safety, particularly doors that they say do not always latch properly.

The two buildings, abutting the Durham Transit Center, share a single maintenance person. The tenants say that’s inadequate for more than 140-units. 

“They have multiple, multiple, multiple complaints about the same thing from different people but they act like we’re all crazy,” said Rene’e Valentine, an Ashton Place tenant who has also lived at Willard Street Apartments. “We’re not collaborating to make complaints.”

At a recent Durham City Council meeting during which the council voted to increase protections for tenants, several Willard Street Apartments tenants shared concerns about the operation and management of the property.

City Councilwoman Chelsea Cook, a leading supporter of the amendment who introduced it to council, said it adds teeth to the city’s Neighborhood Improvement Services Department, which oversees the Code Enforcement Division.

“Our city code inspectors used to have the ability to enforce their inspections,” Cook said. “We used to have a criminalized component to that. The criminalization component was stripped by the state.”

Vincent Lawrence, a resident of Willard Street Apartments, called the poor maintenance of the apartments one of Durham’s “worst kept secrets.”

“There have been close to two dozen in management in succession in and out of the door,” Lawrence said. “They have been using skeleton staffing to run the building.”

Lawrence told the council that he has been without heat for one week, which he said is due to the “negligence” of the management firm and the inability of the maintenance person to make such repairs.

DHIC President Yolanda Winstead, who spoke candidly to NC Newsline about residents’ complaints, acknowledged that there has been a lot of turnover in onsite management since Willard Street opened in 2021, but that it’s been stable the past year.

“What has turned over a bit more has been the maintenance staff, and frankly that’s because that expertise is in high demand,” Winstead said. ”Maintenance staff are able to make a lot more money working for market-rate communities.” 

The residents’ complaints to council about Ashton Place and Willard Street Apartments took place as the council considered an ordinance that would make it illegal for landlords to collect rent if a housing unit is found to be“imminently dangerous” to tenants’ health and safety.

Under the new ordinance, which is modeled after one in Charlotte, landlords can be charged with a misdemeanor if they collect rent on housing that has immediately dangerous conditions such as rotted or damaged structural supports, unsafe wiring, unsafe roofs, no potable water supply or no operating heating equipment in cold months, among other violations.

Nick MacLeod, executive director of the North Carolina Tenants Union, noted the “sad, hard irony” that Ashton Place and Willard Street Apartments were both hailed as housing developments built to address concerns about affordable housing needs for low-income residents and seniors.

“I think that CMC [Community Management Corporation] is responsible for maintaining safe staffing levels … but DHIC can absolutely say to the management company that they hire that they want them to have a certain number of maintenance people per this many units,” MacLeod said.

The NC Tenants Union has been helping residents of Willard Street Apartments to organize.

Winstead pushed back against some tenants’ belief that DHIC would be subjected to the new ordinance.

“DHIC is not a slumlord, and is not having people live in conditions that would rise to the categories that this ordinance is designed to cover,” she said. “We would just want to make sure that that’s clear, and that folks see for themselves that we’re operating a high quality property that provides affordable units.”

Winstead said DHIC is “happy” with the long-standing relationship with Community Management Corporation, which oversees more than 4,000-units of DHIC properties. She said DHIC is working with the management firm to address concerns.

“And while you know, none of our management companies do everything perfect all the time,” Winstead said. “You know, it’s not unusual to have complaints. They are being responsive.” 

In an emailed response to questions, the N.C. Housing Finance Agency, a funding partner for Ashton Place, said that it does have a regulatory responsibility to monitor multifamily rental properties that it provides funding for. 

“Properties receiving federal and state funding must meet certain criteria, and the agency works with owners and managers to make sure that properties meet program regulation,” an agency spokesperson said in the email. “The agency does a physical inspection and tenant file review depending on the funding sources, usually every three years.” 

There’s grief in Davies’ face as she measuredly discusses Pulliam’s untimely death with a reporter. At times, she tears up as she describes the events that led to it.

When she moved into Ashton Place a little more than a year ago, she believed she’d found her “forever home.”

“This has got everything that I’ve been looking for,” Davies said. “I’ve got the space. I got the two bedrooms, so when my other son comes to visit, I’ve got somewhere for him. Little by little the management has been chipping away at my feelings of security.”

Davies said she’s thought about moving, but has decided to remain at Ashton Place until DHIC and CMC take responsibility for what happened and make improvements at the two buildings. 

“That’s my main thing, getting justice for Jason,” Davies said. “It’s not money, that’s not even on my radar. I just want justice for him.”

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