Grand Rapids officer charged for 2022 shooting of Patrick Lyoya loses appeal
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (FOX 2) - A former Grand Rapids police officer was charged with murder in relation to the shooting of 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya. Now he faces a civil suit, but he is not the only one.
Body cam footage pulled from ex-Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr back in April 2022 showed the last time Lyoya was seen alive. Following a traffic stop, the Congolese refugee was shot and killed by Schurr during an altercation in which Schurr fired off both his taser and ultimately his gun, killing Lyoya.
Ven Johnson, with Ven Johnson Law, is representing Lyoya's family in a civil suit.
"He was supposed to give a verbal warning with the tasers. Twice that he never did," said Johnson. "He was supposed to give my client that warning before he was shot with the gun. He never did. So Schurr has violated so many different aspects of his training."
Shurr was later fired and charged with second degree murder. While he maintains his actions were justified, the state's highest court disagrees. On Monday, the supreme court denied Schurr's appeal to dismiss all charges. The case now heads to trial, which could take time.
"This family wants, from day one, full accountability and full justice in the criminal law and the civil law, both," Johnson said.
Schurr, along with Grand Rapids police, also faces civil charges.
"When their officers violate their training, just like here, they don't hold them accountable," said Johnson. "They don't do a full and complete internal investigation and if they do an investigation they don't make the charges stick, they don't give them time off without pay, they don't say we're going to terminate you."
Johnson says Schurr wasn't fired until after Kent County prosecutors filed charges.
"Look at it city of Grand Rapids. You do have training in place. This violates your training, you got to come in and admit it violated your training or say, no we needed to train better, or show us what you're doing to make sure that this doesn't happen to another family," said Johnson.
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Ex-cop Christopher Schurr should stand trial for killing Patrick Lyoya, Michigan Court of Appeals rules
There is enough evidence for former Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr to stand trial for killing Patrick Lyoya, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.