BALTIMORE (WJZ) – Anton Black’s family announced that they are filing a federal lawsuit seeking justice for the black teen killed in police custody on the east coast in 2018.

It is alleged that Black’s death could have been prevented several steps along the way, even before that fatal encounter with the Greensboro Police Department over two years ago.

One of his last words was “I love you” to his mother in September 2018, before the teenager died in police custody on the east coast.

“I’m very sorry. We couldn’t do anything,” said one of the officers on the camera video that was worn on the body.

“I’ve never seen anything as brutal as what they did to my child,” said Antone Black, Black’s father.

Black’s father recalls the incident that began when the police stopped his son because of a phone call about a possible kidnapping. This child turned out to be a family friend.

Black ran away from officers, was eventually cursed and subjugated in front of his house where he died.

“My child didn’t have a knife. Didn’t have a gun. Didn’t have a stick or a brick, ”said Antone Black.

The Caroline County prosecutor declined to bring the case to a grand jury. The coroner ruled that Black’s death was “accidental” due to “sudden cardiac death.”

His family says that’s not true.

“It’s ridiculous not only by science, it’s ridiculous by observation,” said the family’s lawyer, Ken Ravenell.

RELATED COVERAGE:

Greensboro Police released the body camera footage from Black’s arrest in January 2019 after months of refusing to release it. Read our breakdown of the video here.

Black’s lawyers filed a 64-page federal lawsuit on Thursday that named more than a dozen defendants, including the three officers involved. It also names the state medical examiner and the towns of Greensboro, Centerville and Ridgely for “failing to adequately screen, train and oversee their officers”.

“You shouldn’t have to go through what we went through. I just want to do justice to my son, ”said Anton’s mother Jennell Black.

“Anton earned more than advertising. He deserves justice, ”said Ravenell.

“In order for the courts to explain what happened here, this is illegal and the various agencies involved must take steps to prevent it from ever happening again,” said Sonia Kumar, ACLU of Maryland Senior Staff Attorney.

The Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh’s office declined to comment on the lawsuit, and the Greensboro Police Chief did not respond to WJZ’s request for comment.

A civilian “wearing a helmet with a Confederate flag” helped arrest Black. He is not named as a defendant, but mentioned in the lawsuit.

Black’s lawyers argue that the officer “is not registering properly[ed] the help of a civilian with no law enforcement training. “

Read the full lawsuit here.