Michael Brown's parents will sue Ferguson, Mo., on Thursday for the wrongful death of their son, their attorneys confirmed to the Los Angeles Times.
The specifics of the suit will not be released until after a news conference, which the family will hold at 10:30 a.m. local time in front of the St. Louis County courthouse, said Adner Marcelin, a spokesman for the Brown family attorneys, late Wednesday.
Brown, who was black and unarmed, was shot to death Aug. 9 by white police Officer Darren Wilson, triggering months of protests and unrest in Ferguson, a predominantly black St. Louis suburb with a mostly white police force.
Demonstrators often chanted, "Hands up, don't shoot," alluding to some witnesses' contention that Brown was trying to surrender when he was killed. Others, including Wilson, said Brown instead was charging at him.
The fatal confrontation began when Wilson told Brown, 18, and a friend to stop walking in the street and get on the sidewalk. The community was enraged not only by the killing but by the fact that authorities left Brown's bloody body in the street for more than four hours.
A St. Louis County grand jury heard evidence in the case for months but did not charge Wilson. The officer, who is no longer with the police force, testified that he feared for his life when he fired his gun, hitting Brown six times. The lack of an indictment set off another round of protests and unrest in November.
To issue an indictment, nine of 12 grand jurors were required to agree. One juror has sued the county prosecutor, seeking the right to speak publicly and hinting that he wanted to charge Wilson.
The U.S. Department of Justice also investigated and announced in March that it would not charge Wilson with violating Brown's civil rights. The Justice Department reported that it did not find credible witnesses and evidence to support claims that Brown was shot as he tried to surrender. But the department described a widespread pattern of racial discrimination that had turned Ferguson into a "powder keg" by the time the grand jury declined to indict Wilson.
The Justice Department accused the Police Department and the local court system of engaging in institutionalized discrimination against black residents -- in essence, using them to generate revenue for the city.
Justice Department officials also found that some police officers had passed around racist emails, including one that likened President Obama to a chimpanzee. Those workers have been fired.
After the Justice Department's announcement, Brown's parents, Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden, announced they would sue. Their attorneys have emphasized that a civil suit carries a lower burden of proof than a criminal trial.
They also expressed grief after the local grand jury declined to indict Wilson. In a statement issued in November, Brown's parents said: "We are profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence of his actions."
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Staff writers Timothy M. Phelps, Matt Pearce, James Queally and Connie Stewart contributed to this report.
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