YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Probate Court Judge Robert Rusu Jr. released documents Tuesday stating that the family of Akil Drake, who was killed in the Realty Tower explosion, settled for $6.1 million, of which the family will receive about $3.6 million.

Drake, 27, a Chase Bank employee, was killed when the Realty Tower downtown exploded May 28, 2024, apparently as a result of workers in the basement cutting a natural gas line they thought was not pressurized. Chase Bank occupied the first floor of Realty Tower.

The settlement funds were the result of Drake’s mother and sister settling a lawsuit they filed against three companies associated with the owners of the building, several natural gas-related companies, plus A. Nieder Architecture and MS Consultants.

The settlement agreement reached with MS Consultants states that the company “provided subcontracted work on the project.”

Yo Properties 47 LLC, LY Property Management LLC and Greenheart Companies LLC agreed to pay $3 million of the settlement. The Enbridge-East Ohio Gas-Dominion-related companies agreed to pay $2.9 million. A Nieder Architecture and MS Consultants each settled for $100,000 each.

The law firm of Clark, Fountain, Littky-Rubin & Whitman LLP, was paid $1,001,160; the law firm of Patrick McFarland earned $517,590; the firm of Adler Law PLLC earned $455,625; and the firm of Ginnis, Krathen & Zelnick, P.A., gets $455,625. That totals $2.43 million in attorney’s fees, the document states.

There also are costs advanced by the attorneys totaling $59,449 to deduct and a $10,000 cost retainer, the filing notes.

Sharnette Crite-Evans, Drake’s mother, who is administrator of Drake’s estate, gets 50% of the $3.6 million, or about $1.8 million. Traesha Pritchard, Drake’s sister, gets 40%, or about $1.4 million, according to another document.

Drake’s paternal grandfather and grandmother each get 1.5%, or about $54,000 each. Seven paternal half brothers and half sisters on Drake’s father’s side each get 1%, or about $36,000 each.

All 11 relatives listed “have suffered damages by reason of the wrongful death,” the document states. None of the 11 listed is a minor, the document notes.

The settlement was revealed in March after Drake’s family filed suit June 8, 2024, alleging that the defendants’ actions or omissions were negligent and that Drake was “unlawfully killed.” The defendants responded to the allegations in August, in some cases giving a blanket denial of responsibility for Drake’s death.

The natural gas-related companies in the lawsuit stated they were prohibited from commenting on the facts of the case, while the local companies that own and operated the building alleged the fault for Drake’s death lies with parties not named in the lawsuit and possibly Drake himself.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is continuing to investigate the explosion, last week released more than 50 documents that detail the facts learned through various aspects of the investigation, such as the reasons why a natural gas service line continued to have pressurized gas in it when the crew that cut the line and others thought the gas was long ago turned off.

Though the Drake lawsuit was settled, several other lawsuits are pending, including one that involves other victims of the explosion and residents who lived in the upper floors of the building, which was demolished.

The attorney for Drake’s family filed a motion April 11 asking that the details of the settlement included in the Summary of Proposed Settlement and Costs and Proposed Release of Claims be sealed.

Rusu held a hearing May 12 in probate court to hear testimony from the attorneys representing Drake’s family, the natural gas defendants and attorneys for parties not identified to hear testimony for why the details of the settlement should or should not be made public.

Rusu ruled later that the parties “did not exhibit by clear and convincing evidence that the presumption of allowing public access is outweighed by a higher interest” in the matter.

The various settlement agreements with the defendants also were released to the public, containing settlement terms.

A May 16 document in the case states that Rusu will hold a hearing at 2 p.m. July 17 in probate court on the Application to Approve Wrongful Death Settlement, meaning the distributions to Drake’s family members.

An April 2 filing by the attorney for the Drake family asking Rusu to approve the settlement documents states that during the minutes before the building exploded, Drake “went through the building attempting to get others to leave the building for safety.”

It added that Drake was in the basement “for approximately seven hours before brave firefighters would locate him and remove him from the building.”