'This should never have happened': Tenants of public housing building speak out after killing

When Darko Lukic died in hospital on Friday, Marnie Lougheed lost both a neighbour and a friend. 

"I'm devastated," said Lougheed. "He was a very kind man ...  we spoke daily. He would take me grocery shopping when I wasn't feeling well. This type of violence shouldn't be happening in a building like this and it's happening all the time." 

Lukic, who was 48, lived across the hall from Lougheed at 122 Base Line Rd. W., an apartment complex less than three years old and operated by London & Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH).  

Paramedics were called to the building on July 20 and found Lukic unconscious outside, the victim of what police describe as a serious assault. On Friday police announced that Lukic, a father of two, had died of his injuries in hospital. His death is now being investigated as a homicide.  

The killing left Lougheed shocked, but not surprised. She told CBC News residents have been complaining regularly to housing officials about security problems at the building. 

"I'm afraid," said Lougheed. "I'm a single woman living on a floor with seven single women and we're all afraid, we're up at two, three, four in the morning since this happened."  

Lougheed and other residents who spoke to CBC News said there are people involved in the drug trade in the building, including tenants and non-residents, who come and go at all hours despite an exterior security door with a buzzer and an electronic key fob entry system. 

James Wilson has lived in the building since it opened to tenants in 2023. 

"There's a lot of drug activity in the building, a lot of violence in the building," he told CBC News. "I see people smoking drugs in the hallways, behind the building, in the lobby, everywhere. There are violent confrontations in the hallways." 

Wilson said he's complained to LMCH and building management regularly about the problems in the building. 

"I don't get a response or a reply to any of my emails," he said. "They say they're going to pass on the information and do something about it but nothing is done. My concern is that eventually a child or a woman is going to be injured or killed." 

Lukic's death is the third at a public housing building this year. Cheryl Sheldon, who lived at 345 Wharncliffe Rd. N., died in hospital after she was found in her apartment. Her boyfriend has been charged in the killing. 

Zukifili 'Zeko' Abdul Hashim, who was 18, died after an alleged stabbing in June outside the LMCH housing complex where he lived on Southdale Road East and Millbank Drive

Both Lougheed and Wilson say security presence at the building is spotty at best. They say an around-the-clock security presence is needed to ensure that visitors to the building have a legitimate reason to be there.

However LMCH spokesperson Matt Senechal said posting around-the-clock security at entrances isn't practical and would make the buildings feel more like institutions than tenants' homes. 

Security at LMCH buildings is done with a mix of their own members, called the Community Safety Unit, augmented by private security firms working on contract, Senechal said. 

Senechal said tenants are encouraged to contact LMCH if they have concerns, and London Police Service in emergencies. 

"Our buildings are just like any other residential building where people have guests and they came into the building," he said. "Each property has its own unique challenges." 

Problematic tenants can't be removed quickly because the LMCH has to follow the same laws as any other Ontario landlord, and that the eviction process through the Landlord and Tenant Board can take time, Senechal said. 

A mother of a toddler who lives in the building spoke to CBC News and said she's leaving the building to protect her child. She asked that her name not be used for fear of retribution by some of the people who frequent the building. 

Lukic's funeral is today and Lougheed is helping to plan a vigil in the building's parking lot for him on Thursday evening. 

"I didn't want Darko to be forgotten," Lougheed said. "I want to stop this violence and I think we all need to come together and heal. We'd like to plant a tree out back in his name so people can remember him because this should never have happened."