Alarm System Turned Off : Ex-Manager Guilty in Deaths From Guest Home Fire

The former manager of a board and care home in El Cajon was found guilty Friday of two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of two residents who died in a fire after the home’s alarm system had been turned off.

Nayoma Raleigh, 41, of El Cajon was acquitted of a third count of involuntary manslaughter of another patient in the Feb. 6 fire at Linda Turman Guest Home.

Citing a possible suicide risk, Raleigh was remanded immediately to jail by San Diego Superior Court Judge William Kennedy.

The jury deliberated for three days.

Kennedy set sentencing for Nov. 20. Deputy Dist. Atty. Wayne Mayer said she could receive a prison sentence of six years.

Raleigh’s sister broke down and cried after the verdict, and her stunned husband, Norman Raleigh, declined comment except for saying he feared his wife might die in jail.

Mayer speculated that the jury acquitted Raleigh in the death of Mark Buis, 33, because of testimony from his wife, Debbie Buis, 33, that she tried to wake him up to escape the fire but was unsuccessful. Mayer said he thought jurors might have concluded that he wouldn’t have heard the alarm even if it worked.

Raleigh was convicted in the deaths of Patty Melton, 33, and Pietra Corrao, 47, who both died almostly instantly in their rooms of carbon monoxide poisoning. Mayer presented testimony that they apparently sat up in bed, then collapsed.

Raleigh testified that she recalled turning off the sensitive system about a week before the fire so it wouldn’t go off while she cooked a steak, but she recalled turning it back on 10 minutes later.

Her attorney, Pamela Slick, told the judge afterward that she shouldn’t be sent to jail because that would heighten her depression. “She’s been emotionally devastated by this case,” Slick said. “I think the worst thing at this point is to put her in custody. She’s certainly not a threat to the community.”

Kennedy voiced concerned that Raleigh would “attempt to harm herself” if not jailed, but he also noted that she had been convicted for the deaths of “innocent people . . . for which this defendant was responsible.”

“They were afforded no opportunity to escape because of an inoperative alarm system,” Kennedy said.

A resident of the home, David Giles, 20, is facing an arson and murder trial Nov. 10 in the same incident. He is alleged to have started the blaze by lighting fingernail polish on newspapers.