In a scathing critique of the investigation into the death of a Liberty Township woman, the daughters of the victim are suing the township, two trustees, as well as the present and former chiefs of police.

Corrine and Samantha Lynn, who live in the Pittsburgh area, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court Wednesday claiming the investigation into the August 2, 2017 death of their mother Loraine Lynn was not only inadequate, but that police and the trustees conspired to deprive Lynn's daughters of their civil rights by “refusing” to investigate their mother's death properly.

In addition to the township, the suit names as defendants current Police Chief Toby Meloro, Police Captain Steve Shimko, former Police Chief Richard Tisone, as well as trustees Arnold Clebone and Greg Cizmar.

The suit says Meloro; then a police captain was called out to investigate the discovery of Lynn's body that was found on tractor partially submerged in a pond on her mother's Shannon Road farm.

According to the suit, Meloro concluded within five hours that Lynn had died from a farming accident without calling the coroner to the scene or seeking the expertise of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation or the Trumbull County Sheriff. The coroner eventually ruled Lynn's death was a homicide.

Lynn's daughters allege in the suit that investigators ignored evidence and failed to investigate their suspicions that a relative, not named in the lawsuit, should be treated as a suspect in their mother's death.

Although a relative told police that Lynn's car was found parked in an unusual location on the farm, the suit claims Meloro failed to process the vehicle for any evidence including for DNA or fingerprints. However, Meloro did remind Lynn's daughters that the township would have to start charging them for impounding their mother's car, according to the suit.

After an internal affairs investigation concluded that Meloro's investigation into the death was not up to standards, former Police Chief Richard Tisone recommended that the trustees take disciplinary action against Meloro. Instead, as the suit points out, trustees Cizmar and Clebone promoted Meloro to police chief; a position he continues to hold today.

Although former Chief Tisone made the disciplinary recommendation, he is named as a defendant in the suit because he was in charge of the police department at the time of investigation into Lynn's death.

The suit accuses the defendants of acting with “deliberate indifference” in the investigation.

The complaint is asking a jury to award the daughters compensatory and punitive damages for mental and physical injuries, as well as reimbursement for expenditures on private investigators, funeral expenses, attorney fees, and $3,000 spent on billboards asking members of the public to help solve Lynn's murder.

Also, the plaintiffs are asking for $80,000 they say Lynn could have made if she were working.

The township has not filed an answer to the lawsuit.