CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A federal judge ruled Friday that a $5.5 million civil verdict a jury awarded in the death of a Euclid man shot by an off-duty Cleveland police officer in 2012 is too much and should be lowered.

Chief U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. wrote that the family of Kenny Smith must agree to a judgment of $4 million within 15 days.

If they do not agree, the case must be retried.

Smith, 20, was shot and killed by officer Roger Jones at East 9th Street and Prospect Avenue in March 2012. Smith was the passenger in a car that police pursued following a shooting and fight outside of a downtown nightclub.

A jury in September awarded Smith's mother $1 million for a survivorship claim and $4.5 million for a wrongful death claim. The judge ruled the $4.5 million is too much, as he felt that Smith's mother should only receive $2.5 million for her suffering and $500,000 for the lost future earnings of her son, an aspiring rapper.

Terry Gilbert, the family's attorney, said he had to talk to his client about whether to re-try the case. To do so would be "a very painful ordeal" for Smith's mother, Gilbert said.

The judge's decision came in response to a request from city attorneys, who represent the officer, to lower the verdict amount. Oliver rejected arguments the city made to overturn the verdict as a whole.

Gilbert said, in that respect, Oliver's analysis is "a tremendous relief."

The city, which is also appealing the case to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, did not immediately submit a comment.

Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty initially cleared Jones of wrongdoing and wrote in an April 2014 letter that the officer "correctly and heroically took action to protect the safety of the citizens of Cleveland." However, the Sheriff's Department is re-investigating Jones' actions in light of the civil verdict.

McGinty, as well as Cleveland police detectives, previously concluded that Jones fired as Smith lunged for a gun on the car's center console. But Smith's family asserted at the civil trial that Smith was outside of the car -- and away from the gun -- when Jones shot him.

Devonta Hill, the driver of the car that Smith was in when police approached, was indicted in 2013 on charges of murder and firing a weapon outside a nightclub.

The charges were dropped on Wednesday after prosecutors asked for a delay because a "key witness," believed to be Jones, was unable to testify. A grand jury brought another indictment on similar charges against the 23-year-old Hill two hours later.