Michigan cop charged with murder in killing of Patrick Lyoya

A Michigan police officer has been charged with murder for fatally shooting a 26-year-old Black man in the back of the head.

Christopher Schurr killed Patrick Lyoya with a single shot following an extended struggle after a traffic stop in Grand Rapids on April 4.

Grand Rapids Police Officer Christopher Schurr stops to talk with a resident, Wednesday, August 12, 2015, in Grand Rapids, Mich. (Emily Rose Bennett/)

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced Thursday that Schurr had been charged with one count of second-degree murder, local Fox affiliate WXMI reported. Becker said Schurr turned himself in shortly before the charges were publicly announced. His arraignment is scheduled for Friday.

In body-camera video shared by police, Schurr said he stopped Lyoya because his car’s license plate didn’t match the vehicle.

Schurr asked him to stay in the car, but Lyoya, a Congolese refugee, quickly got out of the vehicle. The two had a short conversation.

Screengrab showing Patrick Lyoya, 26, who was shot by a Grand Rapids police officer during a traffic stop. (YouTube /)

When Lyoya started to walk toward the front of the vehicle, Schurr grabbed him and moved to arrest him. Lyoya slipped out of the grab and ran around the vehicle, but Schurr quickly caught up and tackled Lyoya.

While the two continued to struggle, Schurr consistently yelled at Lyoya to “Stop!” and “Stop resisting!” After a brief holdup, Schurr pulled out his Taser and attempted to use it on Lyoya.

In the body-cam video, the two men can be seen struggling over the electroshock device, and Schurr is heard shouting at Lyoya to “Let go of the Taser!”

Schurr temporarily climbed on top of Lyoya and held him on the ground, cellphone video shows. The two men continued to struggle over the Taser when Schurr grabbed his firearm and fatally shot Lyoya in the back of the head. Lyoya is then seen slumped on the ground.

The shooting sparked days of protests in the western Michigan city of about 200,000 people.

“I didn’t believe that this could ever happen to me in this country,” Peter Lyoya, Patrick’s father, told local ABC affiliate WZZM through an interpreter shortly after the shooting. “I’m asking myself, ‘Why did I come here?’”

An official autopsy confirmed Lyoya’s cause of death as homicide by gunshot wound to the back of the head. It also showed that Lyoya’s blood alcohol level was 0.29, more than three times the legal limit, but it’s unclear if Schurr knew that Lyoya was intoxicated when he pulled him over.

“The penalty for driving while intoxicated is not a gunshot wound to the back of the head,” said Ven Johnson, one of the lawyers representing the Lyoya family. “It would be arrest, and go to jail and face the music in court, but not a gunshot wound to the back of the head.”