A federally subsidized apartment complex in Washington, D.C., became a “killing zone” after years of alleged neglect left tenants exposed to unsafe housing, broken security and repeated shootings, residents claim in lawsuits against the property’s owners and managers.
DiCello Levitt and May Jung Law filed two related lawsuits in D.C. Superior Court against the owners and managers of Congress Park I & II Apartments, a 377-unit complex where more than 80% of residents are Black, according to the complaints. One case is a proposed class action on behalf of residents; the other is a civil rights and personal injury suit brought by tenants who were shot on the property and by the mother of a man killed inside his apartment.
Together, the complaints allege the defendants denied residents basic housing services, safety protections and habitable conditions in violation of District fair housing and civil rights laws while investing heavily in luxury developments in less predominantly Black neighborhoods. Kendall Simmons et al. v. S.E. Washington Development Associates L.P. et al., No. 2026-CAB-004921, and Terri Chandler et al. v. S.E. Washington Development Associates L.P. et al., No. 2026-CAB-004896, both in D.C. Superior Court.
The property accumulated more than 1,100 housing code violations and more than $1.1 million in fines while the defendants failed to maintain working locks, lighting and security systems, the lawsuits allege. Residents, city agencies and the media repeatedly warned of unsafe and uninhabitable conditions, but those warnings went ignored, the complaints say. The firms contend the pattern amounted to discrimination in housing services, forcing residents to live in fear or leave.
The complaints say the violence was foreseeable. Between 2019 and 2025, at least 22 shootings occurred at or near the property, killing at least 19 people. On May 26, 2025, James Robinson was shot and killed inside his apartment after a gunman entered through an unsecured door with a broken lock, the complaints say. The same day, plaintiffs Kendall Simmons and Myron Jones Jr. were shot multiple times and survived with catastrophic injuries.
The complaints also describe chronic mold, extended heat and water outages, raccoon infestations — including 15 animals removed from a single apartment — and dark hallways that residents say drew criminal activity.
“Fair housing laws exist to prevent exactly this kind of systemic neglect, where a predominantly Black community is denied the basic services and protections that others take for granted,” said Diandra “Fu” Debrosse, co-chair of DiCello Levitt’s Civil and Human Rights Litigation Practice Group. “This lawsuit is about civil rights, accountability, and making sure powerful property owners cannot profit from discrimination while families are left to live in fear.”
“This is my neighborhood,” said LaRuby May, co-founder of May Jung Law. “I’ve talked with seniors who told me they are afraid to leave their homes. One grandmother shared that she wakes up every morning thanking God for a tree outside her window because she believes it has stopped bullets from coming inside. No one should have to live like that.”
May said the neglect and violence have fractured families and caregiving relationships.
“In one family, a young man who served as his grandmother’s home health caregiver was shot while visiting her,” May said. “Now he’s terrified to come back, even though she still needs care. That’s what eviction through neglect looks like — when dangerous conditions push people out and leave the most vulnerable behind. We will fight to ensure this community has the resources and legal power to hold these owners accountable and reclaim the right to live safely in their own homes.”
The proposed class action asserts claims under the District of Columbia Human Rights Act and the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act, as well as breach of contract, breach of implied warranty of habitability, and negligence. The personal injury and civil rights suit asserts negligence and negligence per se, and plaintiff Carnecia Robinson brings wrongful death and survival claims on behalf of her son’s estate.
