NY couple charged with manslaughter after blaze at their Airbnb kills teacher, 1-year-old daughter

A Westchester County couple was hit with manslaughter charges for a fire at their upstate Airbnb home last year that killed a visiting school teacher and her 1-year-old daughter, police saisd.Dennis Darcy, 57, and his 55-year-old wife, Meredith, were charged this week after investigators found they lied about having smoke detectors at their Dutchess County rental home when flames erupted from the chimney flue on Oct.14 and killed Cape Cod teacher Shannon Hubbard and her baby girl.Hubbard’s husband, John, was able to escape the blaze with the couple’s 3-year-old, state police said.“This devastating tragedy could have been prevented,” Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi said in a statement to WRGB-TV News.

“The deaths of Shannon Hubbard and her young daughter in this senseless fire serve as a tragic reminder of the critical role smoke detectors play in safeguarding lives.“Their absence was not only a failure of the necessary safety measures.The Defendants were aware of and deliberately ignored the significant and unjustifiable risk of death that this absence created.”The Hubbards were visiting from Brewster, Massachusetts, and rented the Darcys’ home in the upstate town of Clinton, unaware it was in violation of fire and building codes, according to state troopers.A probe into the fire also determined that the house lacked a required short-term special use permit.On Oct.

14, the Hubbards were on the patio at the home when they noticed the smoke and ran inside to rescue their two young children, WRGB reported, only to be overcome inside.The East Clinton Fire Department responded to the home on reports of “a fire with entrapment,” and found the family inside the burning home — then pulled them out.However, Shannon Hubbard and her daughter were later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Dutchess County Judge Michael Hayes set bail at $50,000 cash or a bond of up to $200,000 for Dennis and Meredith Darcy, who live in Hastings-on-Hudso...