The family of Cesar Montelongo Sr., a maintenance worker at the Clayton Pointe Apartments in Grand Prairie who was shot and killed after being mistaken for a burglar, is suing the apartment complex and the shooter.

Montelongo was shot and killed by a resident while checking for burst pipes on Christmas Eve, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.

The lawsuit claims that the apartment complex’s parent company, The ValCap Group, LLC, did not properly inform residents that maintenance workers would be checking for frozen pipes.

The suit further claims that the complex did not supply Montelongo with identifiable clothing that would identify him as an employee or security personnel with the property.

The Dallas Express contacted The ValCap Group, LLC, but no one was available to answer questions.

Grand Prairie police responded to a shooting call at the apartment complex on Christmas Eve around 6 p.m. and found Montelongo on a resident’s balcony, suffering from a gunshot wound.

He was checking on potentially frozen waterlines by accessing the apartment balconies.

The resident named in the lawsuit, who authorities have not publicly identified because he has not been charged with a crime, believed Montelongo was a burglar and fired a single shot, striking him through a window.

Police said the resident did not leave the scene and cooperated with the detectives, who, at the time, declined to make an arrest.

The family is seeking $1 million in damages in the lawsuit.

In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Cesar Montelongo Jr. said that he could forgive the man who shot his father but still wanted justice for his death.

He described his father as hardworking and a dependable man.

In a Facebook post in late December, he thanked everyone who had shown support to him and his family.

“My family and I would like to say thank you for your kind words and for showing us so much support during this time. I know my dad would be grateful we have so many people on our side,” the post read.

Despite the tragic outcome of Montelongo’s encounter, crime has been on the rise across North Texas in recent years.

The Dallas Police Department clocked 6,638 burglaries in 2022, a year that also saw a 31% spike in justifiable homicides, a troubling dynamic reflective of City leaders’ failure to get the Dallas’ crime rate under control.