The mother of a carjacking suspect who was shot and killed by Pinole police last September at the end of a low-speed chase has filed a $20 million federal civil rights lawsuit alleging officers used excessive force.

Levi Boynton, 20, of Vallejo was one of three men who carjacked the driver of a Jeep Cherokee at a McDonald's restaurant in Pinole about 1 a.m. Sept. 12, 2009, authorities said. A Pinole police officer spotted the Jeep and chased it at slow speeds to Atlas Road in Richmond, where Boynton crashed the Jeep into a ravine and fired a shot at police, authorities said.