H. Briggs Bedigian: Jury awards $71M to man who jumped out of burning apartment

Prince George’s jury awards $71M to man who jumped out of burning apartment

Ian Round // January 22, 2026 //  

Godlove Djapa, center, poses for a photo with his attorneys after a jury awarded him more than $71 million. His attorneys, from left, are Briggs Bedigian, Lauren Geisser and Jon Stefanuca.

A Prince George’s County jury this month awarded $71 million to a man who broke his spine after jumping out of his second-story apartment during a fire.

In the middle of one night in May 2022, 18-year-old Godlove Djapa and his family woke up due to a fire at the Lilly Garden apartment complex in Lanham. Sprinklers didn’t activate, and if a fire alarm went off, no one heard it.

Djapa and his brother Angelo, who shared a bed in a small bedroom, woke up because of the heat.

“They open their eyes and the room is essentially covered in flames,” said Jon Stefanuca, of Gilman & Bedigian, who represented Djapa.

Godlove and Angelo tried to go through the door to the living room, but it was jammed in the frame after expanding because of the heat. The family of six, which had immigrated from Cameroon about seven years earlier, all jumped out of windows; the one Djapa and his brother jumped out of was about 15-20 feet off the ground.

None sustained major injuries except for Djapa. He broke his spine and ribs and was concussed. The compound injuries caused severe, permanent brain damage, and he is paralyzed from the chest down.

Djapa sued Riverdale Towne Apartments, the owner of his apartment complex, in July 2024 in Prince George’s County Circuit Court. The jury deliberated for about a half hour.

Lauren Geisser, another of Djapa’s lawyers, said it was a “beautiful moment” when the jury came back so quickly.

Of the $71,392,150 total, Djapa was awarded $2.5 million for lost earning capacity and $10 million in noneconomic damages, the latter of which will be significantly reduced by a cap. The rest was for future medical care.

“This man literally dreams about being stuck in that fire every week,” Stefanuca said.

Stefanuca believes, based on conversations with other plaintiffs’ lawyers, that the jury award is the highest in a personal-injury case in the history of Prince George’s County.

Lawyers for Riverdale Towne Apartments did not respond to requests for comment. In motions for summary judgment, the company argued the single smoke alarm in the unit complied with the law and that no more alarms were required. It argued the lack of an additional smoke alarm did not cause the accident.

Djapa attended International High School at Largo, and, during his senior year, worked part-time at a University of Maryland dining hall. He received his diploma shortly after the accident while in the hospital. Stefanuca said he was on his way to a community college. Now, his mother cares for him full-time, but he needs more than she can provide.

“The verdict gives them hope that somebody can care for this young man, because he desperately needs care,” Geisser said.

Jury awards $71M to MD man who jumped from burning apartment