SAN FRANCISCO, Kalifornia - March 2, 2009 - The family of a young man shot and killed by a Bay Area Rapid Transit officer on New Year's Day has filed a lawsuit against the agency and four of its officers, including the chief, seeking $50 million for the murder.

The federal civil rights lawsuit was filed by John Burris, attorney for the family of Oscar Grant, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle.

The suit names BART and former officer Johannes Mehserle - who was filmed firing the shot that killed Grant - along with BART officers Tony Pirone, Marysol Domenici and Police Chief Gary Gee.

Mehserle, who quit the BART force after Grant's death, is free after unknown sources helped post his $3 million bail. Mehserle is charged with murder. According to court filings, Mehserle's attorneys will claim that he intended to draw and fire his Taser at Grant, not his firearm.

The family's attorney "suggested that racism had played a role in Grant's detention and death, an accusation that a lawyer for BART said was not supported by evidence," reported the SF Chronicle.

"Burris wrote that an unidentified officer 'directed a racial slur at one of the young men' after they were detained. Grant was African American, and the other detained men were black and Latino, Burris said in the suit."

A BART attorney said Burris had no evidence to claim one of the agency's officers used a racial slur.

Grant's family had previously filed a $25 million suit against the agency.