CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Davis and Bozeman Law Firm, along with attorney Robert Spence, have filed a civil lawsuit in Montgomery County Circuit Court on behalf of the family of Jalen Johnson (Milan).

Johnson, 24, was fatally shot April 23 after seven bounty hunters and bail bondsmen confronted Johnson and his three friends in the parking lot of the Walmart Neighborhood Market on Whitfield Rd.

The confrontation resulted in a seven-mile chase.

Johnson’s family said he was murdered in a case of mistaken identity. The person the bondsmen and bounty hunters were looking for was not in the vehicle.

The seven bounty hunters and bondsmen were indicted by a Montgomery County Grand Jury earlier this month and each was charged with first degree murder, among a host of other charges.

The civil lawsuit was filed by Spence Tuesday morning, and the announcement was made later during a press conference in front of the home of Johnson’s mother, Anita Jenkins.

“We must hold accountable those that are involved, those that are responsible for this tragic and unnecessary death,” Attorney Mawuli Mel Davis said during the announcement. “Jalen had children and those children will no longer have a provider.”

Johnson was the father of three young children ages 2, 3, and 4.

Davis said the case will go forward along a criminal as well as a civil track.

According to the text of the lawsuit, on the night of the incident, the defendants rushed toward the vehicle Johnson and the others were occupying. The document says the defendants had their weapons drawn and began to break the vehicle’s windows.

Fearing that they were being attacked by gang members, the driver attempted to flee by driving away, according to the lawsuit.

The document also says that as the vehicle drove away, the defendants opened fire at and into the vehicle and struck Johnson in the back and chest.

Davis emphasized the need for a cultural and societal shift in how cases involving bounty hunters are perceived.

“Jalen’s life mattered. This culture of hunting people for money has to be controlled and curtailed in a way that won’t expose innocent people,” he said. “These men [those charged] were doing this as if it were a sport, as if it were a hunt of some sport…It’s been sensationalized as if it’s somehow entertaining. There is nothing entertaining about this.”

Attorney Robert Spence also discussed the lawsuit on behalf of the family.

“After this trial Jalen and the family will obtain the justice they so richly deserve,” Spence said. “We’re going to find the truth. We’re going to find exactly what happened and why it happened to bring closure to the family.”

He described the case as a wrongful death. “There was no reason for this killing. He was brutally murdered.”

Anita Jenkins, Jalen’s mother, addressed the media during the press conference and expressed a desire for justice.

“I am standing here as a mother that has lost a son. I want justice for Jalen. It’s been hard on us as a family. The circle has been broken. With God on our side we will make it through,” she said.

Spence said the lawsuit does not name a specific amount of monetary compensation, but instead asks that the jury determine the appropriate amount.

The lawsuit is filed against the seven men who have been charged in the case, as well as Eagle Bonding LLC and Keesee’s Bonding, both of which currently operate in Montgomery County.