The mother of a Mexican teenager shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent is suing the agency, saying her son was targeted without reason.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit Tuesday in an Arizona federal court, calling the cross-border shooting another case of border agents using excessive force.
The boy, 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, was in Nogales, Mexico on October 10, 2012, when a U.S. agent shot him through the border fence from Arizona. An autopsy by Mexican authorities found at least seven bullets hit him from behind.
The Border Patrol has indicated Elena Rodriguez was part of a group of people throwing rocks at agents across the border.
But the teen's mother, Araceli Rodriguez, says he was walking home from playing basketball with his friends and never had a rock or any other weapon.
Border Patrol agents have faced criticism in recent years for allegedly being too quick to open fire.
A Border Patrol spokesman said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
