Michael Brown: Family of dead black teenager to launch legal action against city of Ferguson

Family says 18-year-old suffered a 'wrongful death'

Michael Brown, 18, was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014

The raw, painful saga surrounding the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, is set to take another twist as his family prepare launch a legal action against the city of Ferguson.

The family of the 18-year-old have said they will file a wrongful death suit against the Missouri city, probably on Thursday. It is expected that that the young man’s relatives will take part in a press conference outside the St Louis County Courthouse in Clayton.

The killing of Mr Brown last summer sparked loud protests across the country and in Ferguson it sparked angry, sometimes violent scenes. In November, the authorities announced they would not be bringing criminal charges against Darren Wilson, the police officer who killed Mr Brown.

This decision, along with similar cases involving black suspects who died at the hands of police, sparked more protests.

Last month, a scathing report from the Department of Justice found that the Ferguson police department acted as a means of generating revenue for the city through excessive fines that disproportionately targeted African-American residents. Several Ferguson officials, including the city's police chief, stepped down following the report.

The lawsuit from Mr Brown’s family comes as the city of Baltimore has been rocked by protests following the death of another black suspect, apparently while in police custody. The family of Freddie Gray said his spine was broken after he was arrested by police earlier this month.