What to Know
- The owner of a Medley welding business where two customers were killed in an explosion has been arrested on manslaughter charges, police said
- The massive explosion and fire at Lauries Trailer Repair and General Welding at 11350 Northwest South River Drive on Feb. 21 killed 59-year-old Elias Gross and 54-year-old Vincent Wiliams
- Jean Paul Lauries Martinez, 42, was arrested Wednesday after police said the circumstances of the incident "rose to the level of culpable negligence"
The owner of a Medley welding business has been arrested on manslaughter charges in connection with an explosion that killed two customers back in February.
Jean Paul Lauries Martinez, 42, was arrested Wednesday on two counts of manslaughter in the Feb. 21 explosion, after the circumstances of the incident "rose to the level of culpable negligence," Miami-Dade Police said.
The massive explosion and fire at Lauries Trailer Repair and General Welding at 11350 Northwest South River Drive killed 59-year-old Elias Gross and 54-year-old Vincent Wiliams.
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A nearby camera captured a massive ball of fire rising into the air from the business, and aerial footage showed multiple buildings and vehicles engulfed in flames.
According to an arrest warrant, the victims were customers who went to the business to inquire about repairing a hole on a cargo tank and attaching two exhaust pipes to a vehicle.
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Gross and Williams had a family fuel truck delivery business.
"They started this company, the company was doing great," said Stacey Gross, Elias' widow. "We were getting ready to buy a second fuel truck, and now, that's all over. That’s all over. The dream he had is over, and the dreams for our future is over."
Lauries Martinez went to the tank and smelled a liquid which he determined to be diesel fuel, and said when he opened gas valves, he didn't see any liquid come out, and thought the tank was empty, the warrant said.
Investigators found the tank had four red flammable hazmat signs that indicated gasoline, the warrant said.
Lauries Martinez told an employee to weld the tank, but the employee later told investigators that Lauries Martinez didn't use any type of equipment to vent or purge the tank, and never performed any chemical tests to assess what type of liquid was in the tank, the report said.
"And my husband and Vinny were walking back to my husband's pickup truck and they, I guess, started welding, and the truck blew up," Stacey Gross said. "From what I understand, and they happened to be in the path of the explosion."
The employee said when he started welding, the explosion occurred. The bodies of the two victims were found after the fire was extinguished.
The employee said Lauries Martinez contacted him two days after the explosion to make sure their statements were the same, and said Lauries Martinez wanted him to give an inaccurate statement to investigators, the warrant said.
Lauries Martinez was booked into jail. Attorney information wasn't available. He appeared in court Thursday where he was granted a $20,000 bond but was ordered to surrender his passport.
"He should be ashamed of himself, he really should," Stacey Gross said. "And I hope he shows some sense of remorse for what happened because he took two people's lives."
