April 21, 2010

The Newbury Fire Department and State Fire Marshal’s office are still investigating what caused a fire Saturday evening at the home of late R & B singer Gerald Levert.

Fire debris from the home has been collected and will be analyzed at the State Fire Marshal’s forensic laboratory.

Investigators said it is too soon to say whether the fire was arson.

The Ohio home was completely destroyed. Only the garage is still standing. It was already ablaze when firefighters got the call and responded at 11:12 p.m. Saturday. Firefighters from Newbury, Burton, Bainbridge and Middlefield departments were at the home until 6 a.m. Sunday.

No one was home when firefighters arrived. The home has been unoccupied since Levert, the son of O’Jays singer Eddie Levert, died on Nov. 10, 2006. He was 40.

The Geauga County Auditor’s Office lists the property and home as worth $658,900. The Geauga County Sheriff’s Office tried to auction the home April 8 but did not receive a minimum bid of $340,000.

Gerald Levert sold millions of albums as a solo artist and member of the R & B groups LeVert, with his brother Sean, and LSG, with Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill.

He also produced other artists, including the O’Jays, Barry White, Stephanie Mills, Troop, Teddy Pendergrass, the Winans and Patti Labelle.

http://www.news-herald.co...056647.txt
[Edited 4/22/10 12:35pm]

Wow that's messed up.

Man, I still can't believe he's gone...

how is it that this home has been vacant since his death? was there a mortgage still owed? it was worth over 650K? this smells like arson.

Damn, didn't his daddy owe the IRS and went to jail or something? This poor family.