Can I break lease without paying?

You could file a declaratory judgment action to have a judge declare the lease breached by the landlord and thereby terminated.

You will be held to have breached your lease if you leave because of the issues you mentioned. Installing smoke detectors is not a big job, neither is the absence of some covers on some light switches. While roaches are disgusting and nobody wants them as roommates, that would not be enough to hold that the landlord breached the lease, thereby absolving you of any liability under the lease. In order for a tenant to avoid liability under a lease, the leased property must be in such condition that it is rendered uninhabitable. The tenant would then be released from liability under the lease. In order to avoid liability under the lease, you should first give notice to the landlord that you will be leaving, but also tel the landlord that you will make every attempt to find another tenant to occupy the property you leased. If you can find another tenant so that the landlord does not lose any rent, you would be able to vacate the property without any further liability. If you leave without first finding a tenant, the landlord must take affirmative action to mitigate his damages. In other words, the landlord cannot sit back and allow the property to remain vacant and then sue you for the rent for the balance of your lease term. "Affirmative Action" means what the landlord normally does when he is looking for a tenant, such as placing an ad in the local newspapers classified section, listing it with a real estate rental office, or any other action the landlord normally takes when looking for a tenant. You would then be liable for rent only for the months that the property remained vacant.

These types of issues don't seem to rise to the level of breaking your lease without penalty. I suggest you put this in writing to your landlord.