Background: News footage of the house in Clinton, N.Y. that killed a mom and her baby in October 2024 (Mid Hudson News/YouTube). Inset (left): Shannon and Margaret “Maggie” Hubbard (Dignity Memorial). Inset (top, left to right): Dennis Darcy and Meredith Darcy (Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office).
A New York couple was charged with manslaughter months after prosecutors said they lied about their rental home having functional smoke detectors.
A press release from the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office announced the March 18 arrest of Dennis Darcy, 57, and Meredith Darcy, 55, following an investigation into an October 2024 house fire that killed 35-year-old Shannon Hubbard and her 1-year-old daughter Margaret. According to the release, the house owned by the Darcys was being rented out to Hubbard and her family on Airbnb, which allegedly specified that the house was equipped with functioning smoke detectors.
WRGB, a local CBS affiliate, reported that the investigation allegedly found that there were no smoke detectors at the home at all.
Shannon Hubbard and her Massachusetts-based family were vacationing in New York’s Hudson Valley and staying at the rental property advertised by the Darcys on Airbnb, according to reporting by WRGB. At around 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 13, 2024, Shannon Hubbard and her husband John Hubbard, 40, reportedly noticed smoke coming from the house while they were on the patio and their children were sleeping inside. John Hubbard called 911 while Shannon Hubbard went inside the house to rescue the couple’s children, 3-year-old Jack and 1-year-old Maggie.
Police said that all four family members were taken to the hospital, where Shannon and Maggie Hubbard died of their injuries. In their press release, police stated that the fire “originated in the chimney flue and was not intentionally set,” but that the home “was not properly equipped with functional smoke detectors.”
Local news outlet Mid-Hudson News reported on Oct. 28, 2024, that the home was allegedly an “illegal” Airbnb property and did not have a special use permit. The outlet also reported that the listing, which was reportedly taken down following the fire, stated that the home had been “recently remodeled.” But there were allegedly no documents filed in the town that indicated such a remodeling took place. Mid-Hudson News also reported that local law requires short-term rental properties to undergo an inspection to make sure the home has functioning carbon monoxide and smoke detectors. Such an inspection occurs after a permit has been filed, but the Darcys allegedly never filed for the permit.
Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi said in a statement to WRGB, “This devastating tragedy could have been prevented. The deaths of Shannon Hubbard and her young daughter in this senseless fire serve as a tragic reminder of the critical role smoke detectors play in safeguarding lives. Their absence was not only a failure of the necessary safety measures. The grand jury concluded, the defendants were aware of and deliberately ignored the significant and unjustifiable risk of death that this absence created.”
Dennis and Meredith Darcy were both charged with second-degree manslaughter. They pleaded not guilty to the charges in court, where a judge set bail at $50,000 cash, $100,000 secured bond, and $200,000 partially secured bond. They are scheduled to appear in court again on April 7.
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