Latest news with #PatrickLyoya
CBS News
29-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Patrick Lyoya's family speaks out after Kent County prosecutor's decision to not pursue retrial
The family of Patrick Lyoya, the 26-year-old immigrant who was shot and killed by a police officer in Grand Rapids three years ago, is speaking out after Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker decided not to pursue a retrial last week. The original trial ended in a hung jury earlier this month. Both parents say they're still left broken after the jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision on former Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr's second-degree murder charge, but they say there's still hope for justice with the civil trial that might still be a couple of years away. "My heart was broken because I was in so much pain," said Dorcas Lyoya. Those are the emotions of Patrick Lyoya's mother spoken through the family's interpreter after realizing there won't be a retrial for the former Grand Rapids police officer charged with second-degree murder of her son. "Since the first one, we didn't get the right justice that we were looking for; maybe the second trial, we would find we'll get the justice we're looking for, but this decision really broke me," she said. Grand Rapids police body camera footage from April 2022 sparked protests and opinions about whether the use of deadly force was justified. The jury couldn't agree unanimously, resulting in a mistrial, but Lyoya's father says his son's legacy will forever haunt Schurr. "All the rest of his life, the blood of my son will be hanging on his head. He will walk the rest of his life with the blood of Patrick on his head," Patrick Lyoya said. Attorneys claim that not pursuing a criminal retrial won't have a legal impact on the civil suit. They suggest they might even have an edge now that Schurr no longer qualifies for Fifth Amendment claims. "People can plead the Fifth Amendment because they can say, 'I have the possibility of criminal charges hovering over me, and I don't want to testify.' He can't do that now because the criminal case is done. And so we're going to have an opportunity to depose him and to once again put on the record why it was he felt it was necessary to take an unarmed, not dangerous, not threatening individual's life that day," said attorney Chris Desmond. Desmond says there is a different circumstance to prove under a different standard in the civil case than the one Becker had to reach in the criminal case, so their goal looks different than the case that resulted in a hung jury. After everything we just learned and everything that was shared in the criminal case, attorneys say the civil case is essentially starting from scratch. The civil case will start with a Rule 16 scheduling conference on June 17. Attorneys estimate the start of a civil trial is at least two years away.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Schurr juror: One holdout kept former officer from being acquitted
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A member of the jury that couldn't reach a verdict in the Christopher Schurr murder trial said race never came up in the deliberations, that Schurr helped himself by taking the stand and that there was one main holdout that kept the former officer from being acquitted. That holdout, he told Target 8 in an exchange of emails, was the jury foreperson — the only Black jury member on the 12-person jury. Schurr's defense team confirmed that. The jury could not reach a verdict after four days and 21 hours of deliberations, leading to a . Prosecutor Chris Becker on Thursday announced he would not retry the case that has divided the community. Prosecutor will not retry Christopher Schurr in Patrick Lyoya's death Becker has said the jury voted 10-2 in favor of acquittal. The defense attorney said it was 11-1 for acquittal. In an exchange of emails with Target 8, a member of the jury wrote that the foreperson 'claimed there was no way that they could see Schurr actually fearing for his life' as he and Patrick Lyoya struggled over the officer's Taser. Schurr, who is white, encountered Lyoya, who is Black, during a traffic stop in April 2022. The juror, one of three men on the jury, said it wouldn't have made sense to retry Schurr, as 'they are going to have a real tough time finding 12 people who would unanimously vote guilty in Kent County based on majority demographics alone.' The 12-member jury was made up of nine women and three men. Ten were white, one Hispanic and one, the foreperson, was Black. The juror who spoke to Target 8 didn't want to be identified. 'Ultimately,' he wrote, 'I would like to avoid having my name or any personal information attached to this as I'm not looking for that kind of exposure.' GR leaders promise 'commitment to police reforms' despite no Schurr retrial The jury deliberated for parts of four days before announcing it couldn't reach a verdict on May 8 on either the murder charge or manslaughter. The juror said the final vote was either 11-1 or 10-2 for acquittal on the second-degree murder charge. 'We didn't even really discuss manslaughter much because of the fact (that) we couldn't agree on the primary charge,' the juror wrote. Either way, it led the judge to declare a mistrial. Target 8 tried talking to other members of the jury: some could not be reached, some declined comment and others did not respond to our requests for interviews. Sharpton wants feds to investigate Lyoya death The death of Patrick Lyoya led to marches and protests and visits by civil rights leaders, including Al Sharpton. But the juror said race was not part of the deliberations. 'For what it's worth,' he wrote, 'even with a diverse jury, the white/Black narrative was never something that was even considered in our conversations. It was more about the training/policies than potential political tension.' What comes next? Legal expert weighs in on Schurr mistrial Three members of the Grand Rapids Police Department, including two captains, testified that Schurr followed his training and department policies. The juror also wrote that the helped sway some. 'I do believe, based on being around all of the other jurors and with discussion with them throughout the trial, that Chris taking the stand provided clarity for some of those that remained on the fence about their vote,' he wrote. Schurr testified that he feared for his life as he and Lyoya fought over his Taser. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Toronto Star
22-05-2025
- Toronto Star
A Michigan police officer who killed a Black motorist won't face a retrial, prosecutor says
DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan police officer who fatally shot a Black man in the back of the head after a tumultuous traffic stop will not face a second trial, a prosecutor said Thursday, two weeks after a trial ended without a unanimous verdict. The decision by prosecutor Chris Becker is certain to upset civil rights activists and the family of Patrick Lyoya, the 26-year-old Congolese immigrant whose death in the front yard of a Grand Rapids home was recorded on video and played repeatedly at trial.
New York Times
22-05-2025
- New York Times
Prosecutors Won't Retry Michigan Officer for Murder After Mistrial
Prosecutors in Grand Rapids, Mich., announced on Thursday that they would not retry a former police officer whose murder trial ended in a hung jury this month. The former officer, Christopher Schurr, testified that he fatally shot Patrick Lyoya during a traffic stop in 2022. Mr. Lyoya had seized control of his stun gun during an altercation, and Mr. Schurr told the jury that he used lethal force because he feared for his life. Jurors deliberated for four days without reaching a verdict, prompting Judge Christina Mims of the Kent County Circuit Court to declare a mistrial. In a news conference Thursday morning, Chris Becker, the Kent County prosecutor, said he had concluded that the state was unlikely to prevail by putting the case before a new jury. 'Looking at everything I had, looking at the facts, quite frankly I felt there was not a basis to be able to retry this case,' Mr. Becker said. Mr. Becker said that the jury that deadlocked included 10 individuals who favored acquittal and two who wanted to convict the officer. Mr. Lyoya's death heightened racial tensions in Michigan amid a national debate over racism and police misconduct after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Mr. Schurr, 36, is white. Mr. Lyoya, 26, was Black. The killing, which occurred in a residential area on a rainy morning in April 2022, received extensive news coverage because it was captured on video from several vantage points. Mr. Lyoya, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was pulled over because the license plate on his car was registered to another vehicle. When Mr. Schurr sought to arrest him, Mr. Lyoya tried to flee, which led to a physical altercation. After Mr. Lyoya grabbed the officer's Taser weapon while they tussled on the ground, Mr. Schurr shot him in the back of the head. 'I believe that if I hadn't done it at that time, I wasn't going to go home,' Mr. Schurr testified. After the mistrial was declared, Mr. Lyoya's parents told reporters that they hoped prosecutors would try Mr. Schurr again. On Thursday, Ven Johnson, a lawyer representing the Lyoya family, said they were deeply disappointed. 'The Lyoya family has not only lost Patrick, but now the hope that former Officer Christopher Schurr will ever be held criminally accountable for taking Patrick's life,' he said in a statement.
Toronto Star
22-05-2025
- Toronto Star
Prosecutor says a Michigan police officer who killed a Black motorist won't face a second trial
DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan police officer who fatally shot a Black man in the back of the head after a tumultuous traffic stop will not face a second trial, a prosecutor said Thursday, two weeks after a trial ended without a unanimous verdict. The decision by prosecutor Chris Becker is certain to upset civil rights activists and the family of Patrick Lyoya, the 26-year-old Congolese immigrant whose death in the front yard of a Grand Rapids home was recorded on video and played repeatedly at trial.
