Louisiana parents filed a federal lawsuit this week after their autistic teen son died. This was after the teenager was put into handcuffs by deputies, shackled him, and sat on him for more than nine minutes.

Eric Parsa died on Jan. 19 last year in a parking lot of the Westgate Shopping Center in Metairie.

Parsa's parents filed a lawsuit on Thursday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. The lawsuit was filed against the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and seven of its deputies, according to an NBC News report.

"Never did we ever think that our 16-year-old son with special needs would die in front of our eyes and in the hands of law enforcement," Parsa's mother, Donna Lou, was quoted on a report.

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Incident at the Laser Tag Center

Parsa's parents said they were at a laser tag center with Eric when he began having a meltdown in the parking lost of the Westgate mall, as stated under the suit.

Eric started slapping himself in the head. He was described as obese, non-verbal, and severely autistic.

Eric then slapped his father and bit him, which caused the man to bleed. The family was then asked by the manager at the laser tag center if they needed police assistance. The family agreed, under the suit that was filed.

Jefferson Parish Deputy Chad Pitfield was the first to respond to the incident. When Pitfield arrived at the scene, the physical altercation between Eric and his father had already ended.

However, the teen started slapping himself again and his father after the deputy's arrival. Eric also slapped the deputy as Pitfield turned away.

The suit stated that Pitfield responded to that by taking Eric to the ground.

"Deputy Pitfield then stated that E.P. bit his leg. Pitfield responded by hitting E.P. with a single strike...towards the head area," according to the lawsuit.

Donna Lou and Daren's lawyers said that the deputies were briefed that Eric had autism.

Eric was allegedly pinned down to the parking lot ground for a total of nine minutes and six seconds during which there were severe clear and distinct chances that Eric was secured, calm, and not actively resisting.

One of Eric's parents' lawyers, William Most, said that the deputies should have taken the weight off of Eric's back, according to a People report.

Most added that they should have rolled Eric on his side to ensure that he could continue to breathe.

The lawsuit added that the teenager had not gone limp and he had urinated himself, when the deputies decided to turn him over.

Meanwhile, Donna Lou, who was a doctor, tried to help resuscitate her son. She was, however, reportedly told to stay back and let the officers do their job.

The family said the cops used unreasonable and excessive force that directly caused their son's death.

Meanwhile, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office denounced the lawsuit. They said that it contained malicious and false claims about the deputies who tried to help that day, according to a TMZ report.

The Sheriff's Office further said that they will fight the lawsuit in court.

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