Daughter Of Firefighter Christopher Roy Killed In Arson Gets Tax Aid

SHREWSBURY, MA — Local lawmakers are celebrating the passage of a new law that will provide property tax relief to the school-age daughter of a Worcester firefighter who died in a fire five years ago.

Ava Roy got the tax exemption after a legislative process that began at Shrewsbury Town Meeting in May, where members voted to ask the state Legislature to allow the town to exempt Roy's property taxes beginning in 2024.

Ava Roy was 9 in December when her father, Christopher Roy, 36, died in a house fire along Lowell Street in Worcester. Roy was raising his daughter as a single father in Shrewsbury, and Ava Roy now lives with her grandparents. She was unable to seek the state property tax benefit for the families of fallen firefighters because she is not the homeowner — a complication that the Shrewsbury Assessor first noticed.

The state law passed Thursday will allow the Roys to forgo paying property taxes for as long as their home "is owned and occupied by [Ava Roy's] guardian, trustee, conservator, adoptive parent, or other fiduciary."

"This measure satisfies the intent of the original state law allowing for a property tax exemption to the children of fallen firefighters," state Rep. Hannah Kane, R-Shrewsbury, said in a news release. "I am grateful to the Assessor’s office in the town of Shrewsbury for bringing to my attention the need for special legislation to provide this benefit in Shrewsbury."

Kane and state Sen. Michael Moore sponsored the legislation. Gov. Maura Healey is expected to sign the measure soon.

"The Commonwealth must give back to those whose family members lose their lives as a result of serving their communities, and I’m proud to have worked with Representative Kane to uphold Christopher Roy’s memory," Moore said.

This is the second time the Legislature has aided Ava Roy. In 2020, lawmakers passed a measure allowing her to collect her father's pension.

Momoh Kamara, of West Boylston, pleaded guilty in March 2022 to charges of voluntary manslaughter, arson of a dwelling, armed burglary, and malicious destruction of a motor vehicle in connection to the fire that Roy died in. He was sentenced to 14 to 16 years in state prison.