Friends, colleagues remember man killed in West El Paso house fire

Phil Kenrick dedicated his life to seeking justice.

He spent more than 20 years working with the Public Defender’s Office of El Paso.

“Phil was very concerned about his clients. He worked hard and he was very concerned with being sure that his client’s rights were well protected,” Kenrick’s former co-worker William Cox said.

Kenrick died in a house fire in West El Paso last Thursday.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined as a result of the extent of the damage, estimated at $138,000, the fire department said.

At one point, flames were shooting up as high as 30 feet in the sky, firefighters said at the time.

“I was shocked. Phil’s had some long term health problems he’s been fighting for awhile and so most of us who knew him, knew he was probably not for off that he would be passing,” Cox said. “But, this was the last way that we expected to hear that he would go.”

Cox said Kenrick had cancer.

“The last few cases he had, he was asking the courts to appoint other council on because he was no longer able to commit his full energy to fighting for his clients,” Cox said.

Attorney Steve Fischer attended law school with Kenrick at Indiana University in the 1970s.

“I didn’t really expect it. I was over watching the football game, last Monday,” Fischer said. “He was dedicated to defending people. He really had that dedication, and more power to him. He took his cases very seriously.”

Kenrick retired from the Public Defender’s Office in 2014. After that, he practiced out of his home on 700 block of Villa Vanessa Drive.

“I treasure the time that we spent working together and he was a really great co-worker and I’m sorry that we lost him this way,” Cox said.

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