An eight-member federal jury found the city of Richmond, Cornerstone Trading Group and its owner, Seth Smith, negligent regarding circumstances that resulted in an April 2023 plastics fire.
The verdict that awarded negligence and nuisance compensation to plaintiffs Tushawn Craig and Marquetta Stokes concluded a five-day trial in the U.S. District Court for Southern Indiana in Indianapolis. Craig and Stokes filed the lawsuit within a month of the April 11, 2023, fire at three North West F Street properties.
In September 2025, Judge Tanya Walton Pratt certified the lawsuit a class action, and 3,594 people were notified of their potential eligibility, according to court documents. Pratt established two class-action subclasses: owners of property within a half-mile evacuation zone and non-owners residing within the evacuation area. With the awards to Craig and Stokes, the court will begin the process of considering others in the class action.
The jury awarded both Craig and Stokes $5,000 in negligence damages, dividing the fault as 30% Cornerstone, 30% Smith and 40% the city. It also awarded the plaintiffs $10,000 in nuisance damages split with $3,000 from Cornerstone, $3,000 from Smith and $4,000 from the city. The nuisance awards reflect the interference with the plaintiffs’ use and enjoyment of their properties.
Cornerstone stored plastics waiting to be recycled at 308 N.W. F St., 310 N.W. F St. and 358 N.W. F St. although it only owned the 308 property. Through unsafe building procedures, Richmond ordered Cornerstone to clear its plastics inventory from all three properties. When the cleanup did not progress, the city used tax sale procedures to obtain ownership of the 310 and 358 properties.
Plastics remained across all three properties when the fire ignited April 11, 2023, and quickly spread to consume plastics, trailers and buildings on the three properties. The fire created black, toxic smoke and deposited debris. Wayne County Emergency Management Agency ordered evacuations within a half-mile radius of the fire. The evacuations lasted until April 16.
A version of this article will appear in the September 23 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
