Two separate lawsuits have been filed against a Jackson apartment complex following the May shooting death of a 19-year-old at the same time family members of the victim fight over who should be the executor of his estate and who has the right to sue.

Juwan Sims was shot and killed at the Westwick Apartments on Flag Chapel Road on May 25 while he was visiting his brother, a tenant. Jackson Police Department Commander Tyree Jones said officers were called to a shooting at Westwick Apartments, where they found Sims had been shot multiple times. Sims was pronounced dead at the scene. JPD said at the time that as many as three shooters could be responsible in Sims’ shooting in what police believe may have been a robbery attempt. No one has been charged yet in Sims’ death.

Attorney R. Eric Toney, representing the Westwick Apartments, said in court papers the second lawsuit brought purportedly on behalf of the estate and wrongful death beneficiaries of Juwan Sims should be dismissed.

“Prior to May 25, 2016, and for many years prior thereto, the apartment complex has a pattern of violent crimes, including rape, arson, aggravated assaults, simple assaults and house burglaries. as well as scores of arrests and calls for assistance concerning a multitude of other violations of the law,” the lawsuit against the apartment complex says. “Defendants knew or should have known that reasonable security measures were needed for the property and that the security measures provided were unreasonable and inadequate.”

Attorneys for the apartment complex have denied the allegations.

Joseph Sims filed his lawsuit in his individual capacity and as administrator of the estate of his son, and for and on behalf of all other wrongful death beneficiaries of Juwan. The lawsuit was removed from Hinds County Circuit Court to U.S. District Court in Jackson.

Four days after Joseph Sims’ lawsuit was filed, another lawsuit was filed in Hinds County Circuit Court and moved to federal court by the “Estate of Juwan Sims and the wrongful death beneficiaries and heirs of Juwan Sims.”

The second lawsuit was filed by Juwan Sims’ mother, his two brothers, and his girlfriend, who is believed to be pregnant with his child, says their attorney, Charlene Stimley Priester.

Priester said in court papers that Joseph Sims hadn’t been in his deceased son’s life since Juwan was approximately 3 years old and has spent the majority of his life in prison.

In addition to the lawsuit against Westwick, Juwan Sims’ mother, Tawanna Shaw, has filed a petition in Madison County to remove Sims’ father as administrator of his estate. Shaw says she has already been appointed by Hinds County Chancery Court as administrator of her son’s estate. Shaw’s petition says Joseph Sims is a repeat, convicted felon, and therefore is barred by Mississippi Code 91-7-35, which says: “The executor named in any last will and testament, whether made in this state or out of it and admitted to probate here on an authenticated copy or on the original, shall be entitled to letters testamentary thereon if not legally disqualified. A person shall not be capable of being executor who, at the time when letters testamentary ought to be granted, is under the age of eighteen years, of unsound mind, or convicted of a felony.”

The legal fight over who is in charge of Juwan Sims’ estate is separate from the Westwick lawsuit, but court records of the chancery court case have been made part of the lawsuit case.

Since Joseph Sims’ lawsuit was filed first, Shaw and the other heirs of Juwan have filed to intervene in that case. No ruling has been made yet on the motion, but U.S. Magistrate Judge John Gargiulo has ordered Joseph Sims to respond to Shaw’s request to join the lawsuit. His attorney, Philip Hearn, filed the response Friday saying his client doesn’t object to the other heirs joining his lawsuit.

Priester said the key issue in the lawsuit against Westwick was negligence, according to court papers. She said police have responded hundreds of times to the apartment complex over the last five years.