The family of a woman murdered by a teenager who sneaked out of a county-run group home in 2005 has sued several Logan County officials, saying they failed to protect the public.

Christopher Tindall was 16 when he killed Joan Green, a 72-year-old mother of six, on Christmas Eve. She was beaten to death. Tindall had previously served almost two years in state custody for raping a 14-year-old girl.

Green's children filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Columbus this week blaming Logan County Juvenile Court Judge Michael Brady, probation officer Robert Beightler and county commissioners John Bayliss, Jack Reser and David Knight for failing to properly run the group home and for failing to supervise and confine Tindall.

The family says the officials had been warned that Tindall was dangerous and that he was to have special alarms on his room and be supervised at all times.

Officials ignored those warnings, the Greens say.

Deb Green said the family hopes the lawsuit will force the county to answer for what happened to her mother-in-law.

"Our family did nothing wrong here, and there were tons of warning signs about this guy," she said. "Someone should be held responsible for that."

Mark Landes is representing Logan County in the case. He said his clients feel badly for the family.

"But government is not in the business of ensuring the safety of everyone," he said.

The county closed the home after the murder, and the state revoked its license to operate in 2006 after an investigation by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Neighbors have said they didn't know the teens whom the county placed in the group home were criminals. They thought they were runaways or had been unruly. Green's home was two doors away.

Police investigating a burglary at a nearby pizza shop found Green's body under blankets in the bedroom of her home by following footprints in the snow to her house.

When authorities searched the group home later that day, they found some of Green's belongings in Tindall's room.

He was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty to murder last year. He is serving a life sentence in prison.

hzachariah@dispatch.com