Officer to face second-degree murder charge in Lyoya killing

The officer who shot and killed Patrick Lyoya during a traffic stop in Grand Rapids nine weeks ago will be charged with second-degree murder.

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced Thursday that his office had filed the charge against Officer Chris Schurr.

Becker said Schurr had turned himself in. Online records showed he was in the Calhoun County Jail. Arraignment was scheduled for Friday, though Becker didn’t know exactly what time.

Becker said he informed the Lyoya family in a phone call of his decision before holding a news conference Thursday afternoon at Michigan State Police Sixth District Headquarters in Walker to make the charge public. Becker said he told the Grand Rapids Police Department chief about it Wednesday.

Becker said a felony firearms charge, which refers to the use of a firearm during the commission of a felony and therefore usually accompanies a murder charge, is not viable in this case because Michigan law prevents it from being used in cases in which officers use deadly force.

Grand Rapids city leaders, including Mayor Rosalynn Bliss, City Manager Mark Washington, Oversight and Public Accountability Director Brandon Davis and GRPD Chief Eric Winstrom will hold a news conference at 5:30 p.m. to react to the prosecutor’s decision and discuss what will happen next at the city level.

The shooting happened April 4. Video released by GRPD shows that Officer Chris Schurr pulled Lyoya over, Lyoya ran away and there was a struggle that included Lyoya grabbing Schurr’s Taser. Schurr, who was on top of Lyoya trying to hold him down, shot Lyoya in the back of the head.

MSP investigated the shooting, which is standard protocol. Becker got the bulk of MSP’s investigation weeks ago but had to wait several more weeks to get additional forensic reports from the manufacturer of the officer’s body camera and Taser. On May 18, the prosecutor said he was seeking additional “expert guidance” on the case but didn’t explain exactly what guidance he needed.

During the news conference, Becker said he had consulted use of force experts.

Lyoya’s family retained famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump to represent them. Crump and Michigan-based attorney Ven Johnson say Schurr repeatedly failed to deescalate the situation and used excessive force. They called for him to be fired and charged.

The police officers’ union that represents Schurr previously said in a statement that it was confident “a thorough review of this entire situation will show that a police officer has the legal right to protect themselves and community in a volatile dangerous situation such as this, in order to return to his/her family at the end of their shift.”

Becker said the charges are not about “sending a message” of any sort about police use of force. He said it was made considering only the facts of this case. He said he tried to be thoughtful and consider input of experts before deciding what to do.

The MSP investigation was separate from an internal GRPD investigation. Chief Winstrom has said he would not make any decisions about Schurr’s employment until the state police investigation was finished. Schurr has been off the job on paid administrative leave.

Lyoya, 26, was a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who came to the U.S. several years ago. He had two children.

https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/prosecutor-decision-on-grpd-patrick-lyoya-shooting/amp/