Murder charges for two men in connection with Old Montreal fire

At least three people have been injured after a fire broke out in the Old Montreal area on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (Source: Julia Guo Mailhot)

Two men were charged with second-degree murder and arson on Saturday, a week after a fire ravaged an Old Montreal building, killing a mother and daughter from France.

The early morning blaze claimed the lives of Léonor Geraudie, 43, and her seven-year-old daughter Vérane Reynaud Geraudie.

The fire erupted on the ground floor of the building and spread to the upper two levels which housed a hostel. Police have said 25 people were in the building at the time of the Oct. 4 fire, which injured three others.

Justin Fortier-Trahan, 20, and Juventino Hernandez Pelaez, 18, appeared in court Saturday charged in the deaths.

They also face a charge of arson causing bodily harm in connection to another man, and recklessly endangering life by damaging a property by fire or explosion.

After their arrest Friday, Cmdr. Jean-Sébastien Caron said at a news conference that one was suspected of using "an incendiary object" to set fire to the building, while the second is accused of driving a getaway vehicle.

Caron said both suspects were known to police but would not elaborate.

In addition to the Oct. 4 fire in Old Montreal, Fortier-Trahan and Hernandez Pelaez have been charged with arson in connection to another fire that took place roughly two hours earlier at a building on Wellington Street in Montreal’s Sud-Ouest borough.

Police spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils told The Canadian Press on Saturday that police were called about a fire on Wellington Street fire just before 1 a.m. on Oct. 4, shortly before the fire erupted at around 2:40 a.m. in Old Montreal that same morning.

City records show the Old Montreal building belongs to Emile Benamor, who also owns another building in the neighbourhood that caught fire in March 2023 when seven people died.

Chèvrefils would not say whom the building on Wellington Street belongs to.

Police said Benamor has been co-operating with the investigation into the fires.

Earlier this week, a third building owned by Benamor in the same historic Montreal neighbourhood was struck by gunfire. Three people, including two teenagers, were arrested.

Police have not said whether those suspects were linked to the fatal Oct. 4. fire.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.