The families of two teenagers who were shot, one of them fatally, in Chicago's Douglass Park are now suing the park district and the suspect.

Marjay Dotson, 15, was killed and Jeremy Herred was injured in the shooting in June. 

"He had dreams, he had ambition; all of that snuffed away because of his cowardly shot to the back," attorney Jeffrey Neslund said of Dotson.

The lawsuit says Herred is now a quadriplegic after being shot in the neck.

"Today is day 69 and me and my wife ain't done nothing but be by our son's side at the hospital, by his bedside. We ain't been to work. We don't go nowhere," said Jeremy Herred, Sr., Herred's father.

Former lifeguard Charles Leto, 55, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and aggravated discharge of a firearm in the shooting.

The family's lawsuit points to several conflicts Leto had with staffers and visitors at another Chicago Park District park when he worked there, but no formal complaints were ever filed.

"They think they're going to sweep this under the rug, but this ain't going to let them," said Terris Williams, Herred's grandfather.

The wrongful death and personal injury lawsuit accuses Leto of willful violence and claims negligence on the part of park district officials who didn't fire Leto following an alleged shooting incident he was involved with months earlier. 

"This shooting incident, two months earlier, in Lakeview was somehow not on their radar," Neslund said. 

The day after the shooting at the pool, the park district launched its own internal review which found Leto pssed all required background checks. The review found a February 2023 incident in which he shot two dogs didn't come up during the hiring process because it did not result in an arrest or charges.

The family said they met with the park district, gave them ideas of what they would like to see changed, and then never heard back.

"The park district has totally abandoned us. We reach out to them. They reach out to others," Williams said.

The Chicago Park District released a statement, saying, "The Chicago Park District has a copy of the lawsuit filed by the families of Marjay Dotson and Jeremy Herred. Now that the matter is in litigation, the Park District will review and respond to the case accordingly."