A Bridgeport pastor is blaming a broken elevator inside a senior housing facility for the death of a man living there.

Pastor Herron Gaston, of Summerfield United Methodist Church, says a disabled man died in his apartment on the third floor Thursday morning, and the broken elevator is partly to blame for his death.

Gaston says he visited the man Wednesday night, and the man told him he was not able to get to the doctor due to the elevator outage. First responders arrived at the man's building at 11 a.m. Thursday. Police say he was found dead a short time before that.

The elevator at the Davey Condominiums on Boston Avenue has been broken since last month when the residents saw a sewage leak that caused the elevator to have a shortage. Management said the delay in repairs was caused by the scarcity of parts due to the elevator's old age.

Pastor Gaston held a news conference Thursday, demanding the residents in the building be relocated until the elevator can be fixed.

"His death is directly linked to the elevator not functioning in this facility, and it is gross negligence on behalf of the management to not have fixed this," says Gaston. "This man lost his life and he died because this elevator is not working."

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim says he is in talks with Gaston about the best way to deal with the situation.

Management says they've done everything in its power to get the elevator fixed, and hoped to have it working at some point on Thursday.

Related: Bridgeport seniors remain trapped by broken elevator | Broken elevator traps seniors, tenants with disabilities