TAYLOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — Residents at The Ponds at the Villages of Taylor are raising serious safety and maintenance concerns after two separate shootings occurred at the apartment complex in less than 48 hours.
Two 17-year-olds are being charged in a Saturday morning shooting at the complex. Taylor police are also looking for 25-year-old Joshua Malik Obie, who they are calling a person of interest in a Sunday night shooting.
Watch Carli Petrus' video report below:
Beyond the violence, residents report ongoing maintenance issues inside their units, including possible pests and ceiling leaks.
One resident, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, has lived at the complex for about eight years. Her mother reached out to us with concerns for the safety of her daughter and granddaughter after our report of the recent shootings.
The resident said the violence and poor living conditions became so bad that she and her young daughter were forced to move out and are now staying with family.
"I would not recommend raising a child out here at all. I've actually personally experienced being harassed by random people that I didn't know, my car being vandalized," the resident said. "I've made multiple complaints. I've spoke to management. I spoke to higher up management and they all tell me or refer me back to the same people that I made the complaint to."
Amea Nicholson said she moved to the complex because it was affordable and looked nice, but now she will not let her two young children play outside.
"I wouldn't raise my children here and I'm trying to get my way out of here," Nicholson said.
When asked if she had expressed her safety concerns to property management, Nicholson said she does so frequently.
"All the time and they send out letters saying that they're going to stop it, but it's getting worse overtime," Nicholson said.
Related video: Taylor police investigating 2 separate shootings at The Ponds Apartments within 48 hours
Taylor police said they are doing everything they can to reduce crime in the southwest corner of the city, where the complex is located.
"We're always actively patrolling that area. We work on a regular basis with McKinley Properties, who manages the complexes," Taylor Police Lt. Joshua Schneider said.
We reached out to McKinley Properties about the safety concerns. A spokesperson says:
Hello Ms. Petrus,
Thank you for your recent email and thank you for the work that you do for Metro Detroit residents on a daily basis. In lieu of an in-person interview, I wanted to ensure that your request is acknowledged in a timely manner.
Both TCDC (owner) and McKinley (manager) are committed to the residents of the Villages of Taylor and have been for more than 2 decades. Our residents are served by passionate and dedicated sales, administrative and maintenance professionals 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week. Like many HUD subsidized multifamily communities the size of the VOT (1500 units) we have incidents of criminality that sometimes includes violence. We hold our residents accountable for their behavior as neighbors, as well as the behavior of their guests. We are also committed to transparency and community outreach. Safety measures include nightly check-ins at our entry gates, employee patrol available to respond to non-police matters and 24/hr FLOCK surveillance cameras. As you may know already, Taylor police actually work out of Ponds offices every Wednesday as a part of community outreach to make themselves fully available to our residents, we appreciate the consistent responsiveness of Taylor PD. Related to community enrichment, our sites hold weekly after school tutoring sessions, budget education, housekeeping best practice seminars among other topics. We're proud of our partnership with Taylor police and the City of Taylor.
We are still waiting to hear back regarding the maintenance concerns residents say they are dealing with.
Nicholson said while this may be low-income housing, that does not mean residents should have to live this way.
"We deserve to have nice apartments, we deserve to have a nice community, we deserve to live comfortable," Nicholson said. "I just want people to know, do your research when you're applying to apartments and everything like that because you have to raise your children here."
Anyone with information regarding the shootings is asked to call Taylor police.
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