A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the city of Huntsville and police officer William Ben Darby for the 2018 fatal shooting of Jeffrey Parker.

The two-count federal lawsuit, which was filed this week on behalf of Parker’s estate, accuses the city and Darby of excessive force. The 15-page lawsuit also alleges the city failed for years to address “systemic deficiencies" regarding the use of force by Huntsville police officers.

Attorneys who represent Darby and the city didn’t return calls for comment Friday afternoon.

The lawsuit doesn’t list a specific amount of money sought by the plaintiff but requests payment of court costs, interest and damages “in an amount determined by the jury.”

“We want justice for the family,” said Martin Weinberg, one of the lawyers representing Parker’s family. “That includes in the criminal proceeding as well as civil.”

[You can read the lawsuit here or at the bottom of this story]

About a month after the April 3, 2018 deadly shooting, the police department announced Darby was cleared of wrongdoing by an internal review board. But about three months later the Madison County District Attorney’s Office took the case to a grand jury, which indicted Darby on a murder charge. Darby has argued he killed Parker in defense of himself and other officers. The murder case hasn’t yet gone to trial.

In the meantime, Darby remains on desk duty at the police department and continues to be paid by the city. The city has also paid $125,000 of public money toward Darby’s criminal defense.

The shooting

It was a Tuesday afternoon when police were called to 49-year-old Parker’s west Huntsville home on Deramus Avenue, which is just east of Bridge Street Town Centre, across Alabama 255. Parker called police to report that he was armed and suicidal.

Parker was sitting on a couch with a gun to his own head, police body-worn camera footage shows. City officials have declined to release the video footage to the public, but it was shown during one of Darby’s court hearings last year.

Huntsville police officer William Darby shown in a Madison County courtroom for a hearing on April 3, 2019. Darby is charged with murder.

At that court hearing, Darby testified that he killed Parker with a shotgun because he saw Parker move his gun. Two other police officers — Genisha Pegues and Justin Beckles — testified they didn’t see Parker’s gun move.

[Read more: Huntsville cop testifies against fellow officer]

“Parker never moved the gun he was holding to his own head; nor did he move in any way,” the lawsuit says.

Darby was the third officer to arrive on the scene that day. Pegues testified that she was de-escalating the situation with Parker — until Darby pushed past her and Beckles to take over the situation.

When Darby first walked up to the home, he shouted at Pegues to “Point your f---ing gun at him,” body camera footage revealed. Within about 20 seconds, Darby pushed past Beckles and Pegues — both officers with more experience — and entered the front room of the home. Darby told Parker multiple times to drop the gun and within 11 seconds of entering the home, Darby shot him in the face.

Darby asked Madison County Circuit Judge Donna Pate to grant him immunity from prosecution. The judge declined to do so, and Alabama’s appellate courts upheld her ruling.

A date for Darby’s murder trial hasn’t been set.

Use of force

The lawsuit also accuses the city of refusing to discipline and hold police officers accountable for use of force. During the years preceding Parker’s shooting death, the police department’s internal review board “almost always” determined that officers’ use of force was proper, even in situations where the force was excessive, unconstitutional or unskillful, the lawsuit alleges.

In doing so, the city condoned such use of force so that “all HPD officers knew would always protect them if they used excessive, unconstitutional, and/or unskillful force,” the lawsuit alleges. “… the HPD officers subjectively believed, and had good reason to believe, that they would never suffer any repercussions…”

About a month after Parker was killed, the police department’s internal review board determined Darby had not violated department policy during the incident. While the police department’s review board includes representatives from the district attorney’s office and a citizen advisory council, only three police supervisors vote on whether an officer acted in accordance with policy and training.

The lawsuit alleges that the supervisors have repeatedly cleared officers of wrongdoing even when the officers violated policy or used excessive force. The lawsuit lists previous cases as examples of such alleged behavior: A man who was shot multiple times by Huntsville police, who mistakenly went to his house while serving a search warrant in 2006; a man who settled a lawsuit with the city after being shot by police during a traffic stop in 2008; and a woman who settled a lawsuit with the city after she was choked by a police officer in 2002.

The lawsuit is expected to be put on hold pending the outcome of Darby’s murder trial.