YOUNGSTOWN - The estate of a man shot to death by Niles Police officers has filed a federal civil rights suit against those officers, their chief, and the City of Niles.

Timothy Raimey, the administrator of the Matthew Burroughs estate, filed the suit alleging excessive force, wrongful death, assault and battery, reckless conduct, as well as reckless hiring, training, supervision, discipline, staffing, and retention on the part of the police department.

Burroughs was fatally shot in the parking lot outside his Royal Mall apartment one year ago Thursday, after fleeing from a probation officer who tried to stop him outside the municipal court.   Burroughs had appeared to pay a traffic ticket.  Investigators say there was a warrant for his arrest.

Jennifer Cox of Warren has a young daughter with Burroughs, "I just wish he was still here.  Just wish it never happened.  And I still want answers to why this happened.  Because I still don't believe what they're saying.  I don't.  It don't make sense to me."

The lawsuit names the City of Niles, Police Chief Jay Holland, as well as officers Christopher Mannella, James Reppy, and Paul Hogan as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that Burroughs was shot eight times, “even though he did not pose a serious or imminent threat to others.”

In the complaint, it's alleged that when officer Reppy stopped his car behind Burroughs’ car, he jumped out and fired five shots at Burroughs, who was still in his car.

The suit claims Reppy did not identify himself as a police officer or give any warning before he shot, and that officer Mannella shot Burroughs three times.

The complaint says body camera  video shows that Burroughs’ brake lights were on at the time he was shot, but points out that neither officer Reppy nor Mannella turned on their body cameras before the shooting.

Cox believes there's a reason for that, "I believe they wanted Matthew dead from the get go.  I told him to get out of Niles.  They (police) was always pulling him over for stupid stuff.  Always messing with him for nothing, and I told him to get out of Niles.  That's just my opinion."

The suit claims that officer Hogan had a responsibility to prevent the shooting.

Following an investigation conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins turned over the 1,600-page finding to the U.S. Justice Department for Review.

Prosecutor Watkins said the Trumbull County Grand Jury chose not to hand up an indictment following the investigation because they felt Burroughs' actions threatened the safety of officer Mannella.

Both officers told investigators they fired because they feared Burroughs was about to drive straight into officer Manella with his vehicle.

Mannella told BCI investigators that when he ordered Burroughs to get out of the car, Burroughs began to drive toward him.

The BCI report found that the other three shots fired did not strike Burroughs.

"He was somebody's son, he was somebody's brother, he was somebody's father, he was somebody's friend, his life mattered.  He did not deserve that  He was not perfect, nobody is perfect, but everybody makes mistakes.  But I feel like they could have tasered him, they could have taken him to jail, whatever.  But to shoot him up like he was a dog in the street was wrong.  They need to pay for what they did,"  Cox tells 21 News.

Raimey claims that the city and police chief have shown a pattern of “recklessly hiring officers not suitable for their positions, failing to properly train and supervise officers, and retaining officers unfit for their positions.”

No supporting data was filed with the lawsuit to prove those claims.  

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court seeks a jury trial, asking for compensatory and punitive damages.