Pattern of Violence and Ignored Warning Signs
Court records reveal a disturbing pattern of escalating violence that the housing authority allegedly ignored. In 2019, Urimagua-Guaraboa was charged with assault and battery after grabbing a neighbor by the neck and threatening to kill her. Following this incident, then-executive director Monica Blazic served him with a notice-to-quit for violating lease terms.
However, instead of following through with the eviction, the housing authority agreed to a six-month stay of eviction and relocated Urimagua-Guaraboa to a different apartment within the complex. This decision would prove fatal for Arocho.
After the relocation, Urimagua-Guaraboa allegedly continued his threatening behavior toward new neighbor Candida Laracuente, who filed a police report in June 2020 stating she feared for her safety. Despite these escalating threats, the housing authority took no action to remove the dangerous tenant.
On June 27, Judge Katherine A. Robertson of U.S. District Court in Springfield issued a 32-page memorandum and order addressing the defendants’ motion to dismiss all claims. The judge partially denied the motion, allowing 13 counts to proceed to Hampden Superior Court while dismissing three federal claims.
The dismissed claims included violations of the Fair Housing Act, due process, and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Judge Robertson ruled that the non-resident plaintiffs who witnessed the stabbing lacked standing to bring Fair Housing Act claims, as their trauma was “so distantly related to the interests intended to be advanced by the (Fair Housing Act).”
However, the court determined that Laracuente, who lived in the complex, does have standing to pursue her claims against the housing authority and Blazic.
