The manslaughter charges against a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer stemming from the September shooting death of an unarmed man will go before a grand jury on Jan. 21. 
 
 The N.C. Attorney General’s Office announced Monday that it will seek an indictment against suspended officer Randall Kerrick. He was charged with the Sept. 14 shooting death of Jonathon Ferrell, a former college football player and recent Charlotte transplant. 
 
 According to a prepared statement, state prosecutors say they reached their decision after reviewing the investigations of the shooting by the State Bureau of Investigation and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. 
 
 George Laughrun, Kerrick’s attorney, called the announcement “just one step in the legal process. It’s not anything we were surprised about.” 
 
 It does mean that Kerrick’s preliminary court hearing, twice delayed and most recently scheduled for Feb. 11, will not take place. 
 
 Ferrell’s death drew national headlines. The former Florida A&M; football player had moved to Charlotte a few months before his death to be closer to his fiancee. He drove to a northeast Charlotte neighborhood Sept. 14 to give a co-worker a ride home. 
 
 But Ferrell wrecked his car on his way out of the subdivision. A woman in a nearby home called 911 to say an unknown man was trying to knock down her front door. 
 
 Police say Kerrick, one of three officers to respond, fired 12 shots at Ferrell during the resulting confrontation. Ferrell approached officers, police said, and refused orders to stop and get on the ground. 
 
 Kerrick opened fire, hitting Ferrell 10 times. He was arrested the next day, the first Charlotte officer charged in connection with an on-duty shooting in at least 30 years. Laughrun has called Ferrell’s death tragic but justified. 
 
 The Attorney General’s Special Prosecution Section, headed by Senior Deputy Attorney General Jim Coman, took over the case at the request of Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray, who is a former law partner of Kerrick’s attorneys, Laughrun and Michael Greene. 
 
 Ferrell’s family is expected to file a civil lawsuit Tuesday against Kerrick, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Police Chief Rodney Monroe and the City of Charlotte. ||||| NBC News Jonathon Ferrell's brother, Willie, and his mother, Georgia. 
 
 CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The family of an unarmed North Carolina man killed by 10 police bullets after he crashed his car and staggered to a nearby house for help has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit. 
 
 The family of Jonathon Ferrell said autopsy results, showing a downward trajectory by most of the bullets, suggest that Ferrell was either on his knees or already on the ground when Officer Randall Kerrick fired most of his shots. 
 
 They say Ferrell never posed a threat to Kerrick or the two officers who showed up with him after a woman called 911. 
 
 “This was a murderer who was acting while on duty. Taxpayers were paying him, and he murdered someone,” Christopher Chestnut, a lawyer for the family, told NBC News. “We all deserve answers. The department needs answers.” 
 
 The suit, filed Monday in North Carolina Superior Court, names the officer, the city, the county and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe as defendants. 
 
 It seeks monetary damages, but Chestnut said another goal was to use subpoena power to force police to turn over records that have been withheld from the family. That includes police dash-cam video of the Sept. 14 confrontation, which has not been made public. 
 
 Florida A&M;/Handout via Reuters Jonathon Ferrell 
 
 Ferrell, who was 24, played football for Florida A&M University, had recently moved to Charlotte and was engaged. His family has said he worked two jobs to put himself through school. 
 
 “If he met you only once, you would love him forever,” said his mother, Georgia. “He was a friend to everyone. I don’t care who you were. He didn’t care about color, creed. He didn’t care if you had a bad attitude — he’d love you anyway.” 
 
 According to his family, Ferrell had dropped off a coworker and was driving home at about 2 a.m. when he veered off the road and crashed his car so badly that he had to kick out the rear window to escape. The lawsuit says he walked a half-mile up a hill, toward the nearest houses, to seek help, and knocked on a door. 
 
 The woman inside, alone in the home with an infant, answered the door, thinking it was her husband coming home late from work. She saw Ferrell, quickly shut the door, called 911 and frantically reported, “There’s a guy breaking in my front door.” 
 
 Three officers went to the house. What happened next is not clear. Police have said that Ferrell ran toward the officers. One fired a Taser, but it failed to connect. Kerrick fired 12 bullets and hit Ferrell with 10 of them. 
 
 Within a day of the shooting, Charlotte police said they believed it had been excessive and charged Kerrick with voluntary manslaughter. State prosecutors are handling the case, as is customary when police are charged. The case goes to a grand jury later this month. 
 
 Kerrick, 28, who joined the Charlotte force in 2011, is on unpaid leave. One of his lawyers, Michael Greene, declined comment on the wrongful-death suit. He also declined an interview on the criminal case against Kerrick, though he has said that the officer’s actions were justified. 
 
 “We remain committed to our client and his rights and to procedural due process,” Greene said in a statement emailed to NBC News. “As such, we will try the case in a court of law.” 
 
 AP Photo / Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Randall Kerrick in an undated photo. 
 
 Bob Hagemann, the city attorney, said in a statement Tuesday that the suit was expected, but that in light of the criminal charges he could not comment other than “to reiterate the City’s and Chief Monroe’s expression of sympathy for Mr. Ferrell’s family.” 
 
 The county declined comment. 
 
 Toxicology reports showed that Ferrell had alcohol in his system, but that his blood-alcohol level was below the legal limit for driving. 
 
 During the confrontation, the suit says, Ferrell never behaved in a way that met the Charlotte police standard of “aggravated active aggression” required to justify the use of force. The suit accuses the officer of a series of mistakes before he fired. 
 
 Those missteps include failing to identify himself to Ferrell, approaching “using stealth and surprise” with his gun drawn and failing to see that Ferrell was “in the process of complying with his commands.” 
 
 The suit details the 10 shots that hit Ferrell — eight to the chest, one to the left arm and one to the abdomen — and describes Ferrell’s being handcuffed as he lay mortally wounded on the ground. Chestnut said likened the treatment to “when you go hunting for game.” 
 
 Ferrell’s relatives and his fiancée, Caché Heidel, said they have forgiven the officer. 
 
 “It’s something else that God has put us through and will make us stronger,” said Willie Ferrell, Jonathon’s brother. 
 
 But they said the pace of the investigation has been agonizing. 
 
 Georgia Ferrell said she hopes the civil suit might push the criminal case forward. In an interview with NBC News on Monday, she clutched a Winnie the Pooh toy that she said her son treasured all his life, and she talked about what she missed. 
 
 “Just to hear his voice,” she said. “When he would see me, he would embrace me so tight. So much love that I would have to say, ‘Jon, let go.’” 
 
 Erin McClam reported from New York. ||||| Story highlights Ferrell's mother: "I hope and pray" lawsuit will prompt training changes for police 
 
 24-year-old suffered "excruciating" pain after being shot 10 times, lawsuit says 
 
 Police fatally shot Jonathan Ferrell after woman called 911 to report home invasion 
 
 Ferrell had been involved in a serious wreck a block away and was seeking help, attorney says 
 
 Attorneys for the family of a former Florida A&M football player fatally shot by police in Charlotte, North Carolina, have filed a civil lawsuit against several parties connected to his death. 
 
 According to the complaint filed Monday by Jonathan Ferrell's mother, the family is targeting the city of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe and the shooter, Officer Randall Kerrick. 
 
 The mother, Georgia Ferrell, said Tuesday that she hopes the lawsuit will lead to changes in the way Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are trained. 
 
 "I don't know if it will bring peace, but I hope and pray that (in) doing this ... that they get the proper training," Ferrell said at a news conference, flanked by her two attorneys. 
 
 Kerrick shot an unarmed Ferrell, 24, in September after a woman -- home alone with her 1-year-old child -- called 911 and reported that someone was trying to break down her front door. 
 
 It was 2:35 a.m., and according to the lawsuit, the woman "does not understand that Jonathan may be injured and is in need of assistance and becomes frightened by his presence on her doorstep at such a late hour. She quickly closes the door, calls 911 for assistance and activates her home security system," the lawsuit states. 
 
 The woman told police Ferrell was "yelling for her to turn her alarm off," but never reported that Ferrell harmed her, made threatening statements, brandished a weapon or stole or vandalized her property, the lawsuit further alleges. 
 
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 Police were dispatched, and Ferrell walked down the street to seek assistance elsewhere, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 Kerrick and two other officers arrived on the scene about 11 minutes after the 911 call, but Kerrick didn't speak with the woman, the lawsuit says. He instead tracked down Ferrell, who "never engages in any conduct which can be objectively reasonably interpreted as aggravated active aggression," according to the lawsuit. 
 
 "Defendant Kerrick, in direct violation of written CMPD regulations, fires 12 high-velocity bullets at Jonathan, striking him 10 times in the chest and arms," the lawsuit continues. 
 
 Kerrick is accused in the lawsuit of failing to recognize Ferrell was injured and unarmed, failing to identify himself and failing to adequately assess the situation before firing his weapon. 
 
 The lawsuit further alleges that Kerrick used "stealth and surprise" in approaching Ferrell and "negligently failed to realize that, because of the dim lighting in the area, Jonathan would be startled, frightened and unable to see his approach and commands." 
 
 "Afterwards, as he lay dying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, on information and belief, Jonathan struggled to breathe and, in effect, drowned in his own blood. In short, upon information and belief, Jonathan experienced excruciating and horrible physical pain and mental suffering as he died from gunshot wounds inflicted upon him by Defendant Kerrick," the lawsuit states. 
 
 The 25-page lawsuit, which devotes about two pages to citing allegations of misconduct and excessive force by Charlotte police since 1997, seeks monetary relief of more than $10,000, though the exact amount isn't specified. 
 
 Back in October, family attorney Chris Chestnut accused Kerrick of "cold-blooded murder," saying the incident was caught on a dashboard camera of a police cruiser at the scene. Ferrell was involved in a serious wreck a block away and was only seeking help, according to Chestnut. 
 
 Kerrick has been charged with felony voluntary manslaughter, meaning he is accused of either using excessive force in self-defense or shooting Ferrell without the intent to kill him. He is free on $50,000 bond. 
 
 "We are confident that at the resolution of this case, it will be found that Officer Kerrick's actions were justified on the night in question," his attorney, Michael Greene, said in September. 
 
 The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has called the shooting unlawful. 
 
 "The evidence revealed that Mr. Ferrell did advance on Officer Kerrick and the investigation showed that the subsequent shooting of Mr. Ferrell was excessive," police said in a statement on September 14, the day of the shooting. "Our investigation has shown that Officer Kerrick did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter." 
 
 The statement further said, "It has devastated a family as well as caused a great deal of sadness and anxiety in our organization." 
 
 Police used the words "charged," "ran" and "advanced" in describing Ferrell's interaction with police. But Chestnut said the young man merely walked "briskly" toward them and surmised that Ferrell was relieved police had arrived to help him after he wrecked his car. 
 
 An officer tried to subdue Ferrell with a stun gun but was "unsuccessful," police have said. Kerrick opened fire after that. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Excessive force in police shooting? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Excessive force in police shooting? 05:23 
 
 At the time of his death, the former gymnast, FAMU chemistry major and safety for the football team was working at both Dillard's department store and Best Buy, to save money to complete his education as an automotive engineer, the lawsuit says. 
 
 His fiancee, Cache Heidel, told CNN in October that Ferrell had been out with friends the night he was shot. 
 
 He had just given a coworker a ride home, about 17 miles east of central Charlotte, and on his way back to his own home, Ferrell drove off the road, down an embankment and into a group of trees, the lawsuit says. 
 
 Ferrell couldn't find his phone, and his car doors were jammed shut, so Ferrell kicked out the back window of the car and walked a half mile to a home where he knocked on the door for help, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 Family members have said Ferrell was a happy, outgoing guy. Heidel described him as someone who was always joking and finding ways to make people smile. His demeanor was so gentle and caring, she said, that she nicknamed him "Sweets." 
 
 "He's always a joy to be around. He cared so much for other people, more so than himself," she said in her October interview. 
 
 She said she hopes Kerrick is convicted and that her fiance's death will spur dialogue across the nation. 
 
 "That is a hope I have, that his death will resound for a country that prides itself on being diverse and inclusive and accepting everyone for who they are," she said.
– The family of Jonathon Ferrell, the unarmed man shot dead by a police officer after crashing his car in North Carolina in September, filed a wrongful death lawsuit this week. They say autopsy results show most of the 10 police bullets were shot downward, suggesting Ferrell, 24, was on the ground or on his knees when he was killed by Officer Randall Kerrick. In addition to monetary damages, the lawsuit is also seeking a subpoena forcing police to turn over records including the dash-cam video of the incident, a lawyer for the family tells NBC News. Meanwhile, the attorney general is seeking an indictment against Kerrick, who is on unpaid leave and has been charged with voluntary manslaughter, and the charges will go before a grand jury a week from today, the Charlotte Observer reports. It's still not entirely clear what happened after Ferrell walked to a nearby house after the crash looking for help. He knocked and a woman answered, assuming it was her husband, then saw Ferrell, closed the door, and called 911 to report a break-in. Police say Ferrell ran toward the three officers who responded and that one of the officers attempted to use a Taser, which didn't connect, before Ferrell was shot. But the wrongful death suit accuses Kerrick of missteps including not identifying himself, approaching Ferrell with his gun drawn and "using stealth and surprise," and not seeing that Ferrell was trying to comply with his orders. The family's lawyer suspects Ferrell was simply walking "briskly" to police because he was glad they were there to help, CNN reports.