Lexington fined apartment complex owner after fatal gas leak. The company hasn’t paid
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Building condemned since July leak; remains closed.
- Code enforcement issued max $10,025 fine; owner appealed and court case remains open.
- Coroner ruled death carbon monoxide poisoning; carboxyhemoglobin at 59.3%.
The Lexington apartment building where a gas leak left one man dead and nearly a dozen others injured last year remains condemned more than seven months after the incident.
The gas leak happened July 7, 2025, at Oxford Circle Apartments, just off Versailles Road. Samuel Gross, 62, was pronounced dead at the scene, while 11 others were injured.
The two-story, 32-unit apartment building, which was purchased by Oxford KDR LLC in 2019 for $1.1 million, was condemned following the incident, with an expected reopening timeline of roughly a week.
Tenants never returned, however.
Seven months later, the building remains closed while the city awaits electrical, plumbing and structural repairs, including a six-figure fix to the building’s boiler and chiller systems, spokesperson Susan Straub told the Herald-Leader late last year.
Those fixes came out of a code enforcement inspection two days after the fatal incident. The review found 35 total violations, according to court documents. Straub said the owner must fix all cited violations and turn the heat and hot water back on before the building can be reopened.
In August 2025, with only patchwork fixes made, city code enforcement fined the owner $10,025 — the largest amount the division can hand out. The owner has appealed the fine, and the case remains ongoing in Fayette District Court as of February.
The company that owns the property, Oxford KDR LLC, is registered with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office out of Trenton, N.J., under registered agent CCS Global Solutions Inc. Justin Fraser, listed as an officer with Oxford, and Joseph Pope, president of CCS Global Solutions, did not respond to requests for comment on the apartment or future plans, and calls to the attorney representing Oxford, Ian Ramsey, also went unreturned.
It is unclear how many people were displaced when the building was condemned. Straub previously said the city’s Office of Housing Advocacy and Community Development took applications for assistance from 20 units and contacted each tenant. Court documents say the owner paid to relocate the tenants.
What did code enforcement find in its inspection?
The 35 violations found during code enforcement’s July 9 inspection included a variety of issues with the building, such as interior and exterior damages, plumbing and electrical system hazards, a broken HVAC system and missing smoke detectors. Straub said one of the biggest problems was an inoperable boiler and exhaust system, which is believed to have caused the fatal gas leak.
The equipment in the mechanical room is commercial and falls under the jurisdiction of state inspectors, according to Straub.
The boiler was last inspected by the state in 2023. Those inspections are not automatic and must be requested. Straub said there are no records of code enforcement being in mechanical room within the last five years. The boiler was last inspected in 2024 by an independent inspector, according to Straub.
The city gave the Oxford LLC 30 days to fix all violations, a deadline of Aug. 8, and the building was not allowed to reopen until code enforcement re-inspected and approved the corrections.
Code enforcement attempted that re-inspection Aug. 11, three days after the compliance date. Court documents indicate certain repairs had been done, and the owner asked for those to be verified.
The city’s code enforcement told Oxford LLC it would not sign off on reopening the building until all violations were fixed and levied the $10,025 fine, according to court documents.
Oxford LLC appealed, and during a hearing Sept. 17, 2025, the administrative hearing board upheld the fine and demanded it be paid within 30 days, or the building could face a lien.
Code enforcement revisited the property that same day, and property management showed officials newly installed carbon monoxide and smoke detectors in the mechanical room. Management also told code enforcement officials they were installing the same detectors in all 32 units, but did not let officials enter the apartments, according to Straub.
The building was built in 1965, meaning property management is not required to install carbon monoxide detectors. Straub said the building would only require detectors if it underwent extensive, permit-required renovations.
Recently, 11th District Council member Jennifer Reynolds sponsored a proposed city ordinance to require carbon monoxide detectors to be installed in all Lexington apartment units and houses with gas-burning appliances or attached garages. The ordinance was approved by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council’s social services and public safety committee Jan. 13, and Tuesday during a work session, the council unanimously moved to hold a vote on the ordinance in March.
“We’re grateful for council woman Reynolds and the initiative that she’s put forth to help protect Lexington residents and, hopefully, get carbon monoxide detectors put in all rental units,” Kris Nevels, an attorney representing Gross’ family, previously told the Herald-Leader.
Latest on appeals court case
Oxford, the company that owns the property, continues to push back rather than pay the fine.
The company appealed the administrative board’s order in Fayette District Court Oct. 16, citing a lack of evidence in the panel’s September decision to uphold the city fine. Oxford’s attorney, Ramsey, asked for the fine to be dismissed and to have the city pay associated legal fees.
As for evidence, the code enforcement officer who issued the fine did not provide testimony during the September appeal hearing, nor did a representative from the fire department, which performed an inspection of the building July 7.
Instead, the director of code enforcement testified and said the fine was for alleged conduct unrelated to the Oxford Circle property, according to court documents. There was no further explanation of the conduct.
On Nov. 12, a lawyer representing Lexington asked the court to uphold the fine and the board’s order while dismissing Oxford’s lawsuit. Attorneys representing the city also did not respond to Herald-Leader questions about the case. After publication, Straub told the H-L the city would not comment on pending litigation.
As of Feb. 17, there is no scheduled court date for the lawsuit to proceed.
Samuel Gross
Gross was born in Cynthiana and served in the U.S. Army, according to his obituary. He also worked as a truck driver and a laborer at 3M Company in Cynthiana.
The Fayette County Coroner’s Office determined Gross died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Officials tested his blood and urine and found a carboxyhemoglobin level of 59.3% saturation, according to the coroner’s report.
Carboxyhemoglobin levels more than 50% are generally considered fatal, according to the National Library of Medicine. Normal saturation levels are less than 3% for nonsmokers and less than 12% for smokers.
It’s unknown if Gross smoked, but he did have a stroke in December 2024, according to the coroner’s report. Patients with underlying ischemic cardiomyopathy could die from lower levels of carboxyhemoglobin saturation, like those between 10% and 30%, according to the National Library of Medicine.
The coroner’s report said Gross’ stroke may have been relevant to his death.
Reynolds, the Lexington council woman that represents the district that includes the apartment, has claimed Gross’ death was preventable and “a carbon monoxide detector could have saved a life and prevented the illness of many and the displacement of a lot of tenants.”
Nevels, the attorney representing Gross’ family, said they will push for accountability. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment this week.
“Our focus remains on safety responsibility and most of all, helping to ensure that no other family has to go through,” Nevels previously said.
Note: This article was updated at 5:25 p.m. Feb. 18 to include a “no comment” from the city on the open lawsuit.
This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 5:15 AM.
