Daryle McClenic of Hempstead charged in deadly village house fire, Nassau police say

A Hempstead man has been criminally charged for his role in a Hempstead Village fire on Monday morning that killed a woman and left two others injured, authorities said.

Daryle McClenic, 35, of Front Street, is charged with criminally negligent homicide and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, Nassau police said.

The fire broke out at 6:30 a.m. Monday on the second floor of a Front Street home where McClenic had been squatting, according to charging documents. Records indicate the house was foreclosed by a bank in 2016.

McClenic unlawfully rented rooms in the home to tenants and failed to maintain smoke detectors, causing the death of the victim, Felicia Malakai, the documents state.

McClenic was arraigned Tuesday in Hempstead and held on $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash, records show.

He is represented by the Nassau County Legal Aid Society, which did not respond to a request for comment.

The fire, prosecutors said, began in Malakai's second-floor bedroom. Malakai was pronounced dead at the scene, said Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro. Efforts to reach Malakai's family were unsuccessful.

One male victim suffered burns on the face and neck, and a second male sustained an ankle injury from jumping out of a second-floor bedroom, said Village of Hempstead Fire Chief Fred Sandas, who was first to arrive on the scene about five minutes after it was reported.

Both of the injured were treated at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. Uttaro said the second person also sustained bumps and bruises and suffered smoke inhalation.

The Fire Marshal's Office on Tuesday said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Detectives executing a search warrant in the home Monday night recovered a loaded Ruger .380 semiautomatic handgun inside a locked box in McClenic's bedroom. McClenic, who has a prior conviction from 2016 for reckless endangerment, does not have a license or permit for the gun, authorities said.

The number of people living at the home exceeded the limit for a two-family residence under village regulations, officials said. The others, including several adults and children, were able to leave the burning home on their own, Uttaro said.

Those who were not injured were receiving assistance.

“They are getting assistance from the Red Cross,” which is finding temporary quarters for them, Uttaro said.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.