26-05-2025
Will Michigan AG retry Christopher Schurr in death of Patrick Lyoya?
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The future of the murder case against former Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr is up in the air after the Kent County prosecutor announced he would not pursue the case any further following a mistrial.
When Prosecutor Chris Becker said Thursday he the criminal case against Schurr, he was asked about the possibility of Attorney General Dana Nessel taking over the prosecution herself.
'Technically, the attorney general could,' Becker said. 'She never has before. But technically I think that's always a possibility.'
Becker said he hadn't heard from Nessel's office about that possibility. Now that Becker is done with the case, Lyoya family advocates are pressing Nessel to take it on.
Lyoya family hurt, Schurr relieved by prosecutor's decision not to retry, advocates say
The Greater Grand Rapids NAACP and the Urban League of West Michigan have both reached out to her office urging her to prosecute the case.
'We are imploring her to file charges to pick this up so the Lyoya family as well as our community can have the justice it so rightly deserves,' said Eric Brown, the president and CEO of the Urban League of West Michigan. 'We are all in support to carry this as far as it can be carried out.'
After Schurr shot and killed in April 2022, Attorney General Dana Nessel that she would take up the murder case against Christopher Schurr if she was asked to.
At an event in Kalamazoo back then, Nessel said she often invites local prosecutors to refer these types of cases to the AG's office. She argued that prosecuting officer-involved shootings can create friction between the prosecutor and the police department, so it's often better for the AG to handle it.
'The Department of the Attorney General is best suited to handle these cases,' she said in 2022.
Of course, Becker ultimately took on the case himself. Earlier this month, his case ended in a hung jury and the judge .
Explaining his decision not to retry the case, Becker argued the jury overwhelmingly leaned toward acquittal with a 10 to 2 vote in the end. He said most of the time, another trial doesn't end differently.
Prosecutor will not retry Christopher Schurr in Patrick Lyoya's death
'What it boils down to is I don't think we reach a different verdict if I do a retrial … the jury came back deadlocked,' he said.
It's an open question what Nessel will do. News 8 has reached out to Nessel asking if her office will get involved.
Nessel's on the case came amid jury deliberations on May 6. She responded to a social media commentator who claimed Nessel wanted her 'own ,' the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of murdering George Floyd.
'Christopher Schurr was charged and tried by Chris Becker, the Republican Kent County Prosecutor,' Nessel wrote in a response on social media. 'My department had no involvement.'
Now it's her call whether she wants to get involved.
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