Grand Rapids Officer Charged With Second Degree Murder

Christopher Schurr, a Grand Rapids, Michigan police officer, was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Patrick Lyoya and is being held on $1 million bonds. The shooting occurred on December 20, after several minutes of a car chase.

Lyoya was a family man. A father who loved his son and cherished the time he spent with him. Lyoya was shot six times by Grand Rapids Police Department, Officer Schurr, who has now been placed on paid administrative leave while the department investigates the incident.

Now, officials are saying that Lyoya was killed by a Grand Rapids Police Department officer who was supposed to protect him.

According to police reports from The Michigan Citizen, Officer Schurr pulled over Patrick Lyoya for driving without headlights in April. But it appears that the officer’s motivation for pulling over the driver may have been more personal than his lack of headlights — the officer had previously been in an altercation with Lyoya at a Grand Rapids bar just six days earlier.

The Michigan Citizen reported that Officer Schurr of the Grand Rapids Police Department had been involved in a fight with Patrick  Lyoya at a bar on April 19, where they reportedly exchanged blows before leaving together. In addition, one witness told police they saw  Lyoya with bruises around his face and bloodshot eyes after the incident occurred at 6 p.m., which made Officer Schurr’s decision to pull the trigger.

Lyoya‘s family sued the city and the department, alleging that he was shot by Officer Matthew Schurr on February 28, 2019, after being detained for questioning a robbery report.

The lawsuit also accused Schurr of using excessive force and failing to intervene during the incident at a gas station near Ionia Avenue and Fuller Avenue SW.

The Grand Rapids Police Department said that Officer Schurr had been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation into his actions at the time of the incident. The department would not comment on whether the officer had been suspended because of the ongoing investigation.

A spokesperson for the Grand Rapids Police Department said that protocol dictates that any officer involved in an incident that results in death must be suspended until investigators have cleared them. The Grand Rapids Police Department spokesperson did not know how long it would take to complete this investigation or when Officer Schurr’s name might return to active duty status again.

Christopher Becker, the Kent County prosecuting attorney, has charged a Grand Rapids police officer, Christopher Schurr, with second-degree murder in the shooting death of  Lyoya.  

Becker said he would seek the maximum sentence for the charge, which carries a mandatory life sentence. He said that although this is an unusual case, he believes he has been given information about what happened that led him to believe there is probable cause for a trial.

Written by Janet Grace Ortigas
Edited Sheena Robertson

Source:

CNN: Grand Rapids officer charged with second-degree murder in shooting of Patrick Lyoya, prosecutor says; by Peter Nickeas and Ray Sanchez,
ABC 57: Grand Rapids officer charged with second-degree murder in shooting of Patrick Lyoya, prosecutor says; by Peter Nickeas and Ray Sanchez
The New York Times: Michigan Police Officer Charged With Murder After Killing Black Motorist; by Luke Vander Ploeg and Mitch Smith

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Patrick Feller’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Michigan Municipal League/mml.org’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License