The family of Neil Michael Godleski — the 31-year-old Catholic University student who was shot and killed in a robbery attempt as he rode his bike through Sherman Circle last August — is now suing the city, claiming that the city’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services failed to keep the teen responsible under its watch.

The Godleski family’s wrongful death lawsuit, filed yesterday in D.C. Superior Court, requests $20 million in damages and claims that the city “acted with indifference and negligence” in not keeping a close eye on 17-year-old Eric Foreman, who was arrested last September and indicted on murder charges in June. Foreman allegedly fired multiple shots at Godleski as he rode his bicycle through the circle, then approached him and fired two more shots at close range. According to police documents, Foreman told detectives that he had shot Godleski as part of an attempt to rob him; Godleski, who lived nearby on the 500 block of Ingraham Street NW, was apparently killed over sixty dollars. Foreman’s murder trial is scheduled to begin on Feburary 6, 2012.

According to the Examiner, the lawsuit claims that the DYRS did not do its job in keeping Foreman in custody, considering that he was “known to be a gang member and had a propensity for violence.” The lawsuit also cites the generally poor performance at DYRS as part of the reason Godleski was killed.