2 Flint Firefighters Could Be in BIG Trouble after Leaving 2 Boys for Dead [Updated]

Kalyn Womack
·3 min read
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Zyaire Mitchell (Left) and Lamar Mitchell (Right)
Zyaire Mitchell (Left) and Lamar Mitchell (Right)

Last year, Zyaire (12) and Lamar Mitchell (9) died in a house fire in Flint, Michigan after two firefighters failed to sweep the premises for survivors. County prosecutors are finally considering bringing criminal charges against the two responsible, per MLive.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton previously called on the Michigan State Police to launch a probe into the incident. After reviewing the investigative report about the fatal fire, he may find probable cause to criminally charge the former firefighters, Daniel Sniegocki and Michael Zlotek.

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Back in May of 2022, the men issued an all-clear after looking through the burning house but failed to check a second-floor bedroom where the Mitchell boys were located. They were also accused of making false reports about searching the second floor. As a result, the children died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning and were found by other firefighters nearly ten minutes later, reports say.

Both men no longer work the department but Zlotek skipped town to work at another department in another county.

The boys’ mother, Crystal Cooper, filed a lawsuit against the former firefighters but now they may be facing criminal charges for lying about checking the entire house.

Whistleblower Claims Retaliation

In addition to Cooper’s lawsuit, the fire department is also named in a suit filed by Former Flint Fire Department Chief Raymond Barton. He’s the one who initially punished the former firefighters for lying about properly sweeping the scene and lost his own job following that.

He’s seeking $10 million in federal court, claiming he was fired after refusing to change his recommendation that the two be fired, per MLive.

Barton conducted a thorough examination of the incident and he found the former firefighters claimed they checked every room in the house, and then later admitted they’d missed one - which happened to be where the victims were. As a result, Barton decided the best course of action was to order the termination of both firefighters. Mayor Sheldon Neely overrode that decision, allowing one to keep his job, and the other to resign. Both eventually resigned.

Barton contended that following their discipline, he was in hot water with the union and Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s office. He alleges they tried to overturn his recommended punishment, per WNEM. He also claims the union president asked the mayor to replace him. Both the mayor and his state legislator wife were running for re-election and wanted to keep the fire union’s endorsement. As it so happens, Theron Wiggins was named Interim Fire Chief Thursday.

“I never disciplined [the firefighters] for missing the room - I disciplined them for submitting a false report,” Barton said to WNEM. “The only thing that I’ve ever done is follow [the mayor’s] directives. I ain’t no saint but I care about the city of Flint. I’ve sacrificed so much for this city, the relationships with my sons. I had so many firefighters in my department that didn’t have a father figure come to me like a father figure and a big brother.”

Read the union’s response from MLive:

Members of the Flint City Council have questioned the limited discipline given to Zlotek and in October voted to initiate an independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the punishment.

Nick Kendrick, president of Flint Firefighters Local 352, said in a message to MLive-The Flint Journal on Wednesday that Zlotek has been hired by another fire department “with better pay and benefits.”

Kendrick has said both Zlotek and Sniegocki have been made scapegoats for their attempted search for the Mitchell brothers in a home that was still smoldering and filled with smoke.

The union has said the city has put firefighters in harm’s way because of chronic understaffing in the fire department.

It’s unspecified what warranted the chief’s termination. However, it is suspicious, given Cooper’s pending lawsuit against the city and the two firefighters as well as the investigation into the incident.

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