Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty for 2 in Fatal Illinois Apartment Fire

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for two men accused of killing seven people in a suburban Chicago apartment house they allegedly set on fire for the insurance money.

The Chicago Tribune reports that lawyers for 60-year-old building owner Lawrence Myers and 47-year-old building manager Marion Andre Comier told a Cook County judge on Tuesday that they had been formally served the papers indicating the state will seek the death penalty if the two are convicted.

Myers and Comier are being held in the Cook County Jail. They’re scheduled to appear in court Oct. 27 for a conference to ensure that all the lawyers involved are qualified to handle a death penalty case.

The victims of the Feb. 14 fire were all 20 and younger.