Patrick Lyoya's family speaks out about mistrial against former Grand Rapids cop

DETROIT — The family of a Congolese immigrant fatally shot by a Grand Rapids police officer in 2022 said Thursday they believe retrying the case would have resulted in a conviction, even though the Kent County prosecutor decided against going to trial a second time due to division in the community.

"I believe that we would have gotten a different judgment," said Peter Lyoya, the father of Patrick Lyoya, through an interpreter. "I believe it 100% that we could get justice for my son."

Peter Lyoya made the remarks during a news conference at the Westin Book Cadillac in downtown Detroit, three weeks after a Kent County Circuit Court judge declared a mistrial against Christopher Schurr, the former officer who fatally shot Patrick Lyoya.

The press conference was held a week after Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced that he will not retry Schurr in Lyoya's April 2022 shooting death.

Peter Lyoya was joined by Dorcas Lyoya, Patrick Lyoya's mother; Israel Siku, the interpreter; and Robert Womack, a Kent County commissioner in Grand Rapids. They were accompanied by attorneys Ven Johnson, Chris Desmond and Ayanna Hatchette, who filed a $100 million lawsuit against the city of Grand Rapids and Schurr over Patrick Lyoya's death.

The Lyoyas said that while they're still in a lot of pain from their son's death, they aren't critical of Becker's decision.

"It was a shock to me to hear (the case wasn't going to be retried)," Dorcas Lyoya said through the interpreter. "My heart was broken. I was hoping that since the first case didn't get justice for my son, that maybe we would get it in a second trial."

Johnson added: "The family is crushed. This is yet another blow to the family where criminal law justice has failed them. It's a tough pill for the family to swallow."

But like the Lyoyas, the Detroit-based attorney said he thinks Becker presented a strong case against Schurr to the jury.

"To say the case was difficult from the beginning would be an understatement," Johnson said. "We appreciate what he did. I understand his decision. I don't like it."

Johnson said he has not asked the Michigan Attorney General's Office to file charges against Schurr related to the incident. But he said it was clear that Schurr had other options short of deadly force to resolve the situation.

"He could have used lesser force that was absolutely available to him," Johnson said about Schurr.

'Last chance for justice'

Johnson and the other attorneys with his firm turned their attention to the next steps in their civil lawsuit against Schurr after a federal judge dismissed Grand Rapids from the suit.

Hatchett said the case will appear before a federal judge in Kalamazoo next month, and the attorneys will set the schedule for upcoming motions and hearings. Johnson said the first hearing will be on June 17.

He said he expects the case to take between two years and two and a half years to get a judgment.

"It can as long as it needs to," said Peter Lyoya. "My biggest concern and what I am fighting for is getting justice for my son."

Womack thanked Johnson and his firm for representing the Lyoyas in their civil case, calling them "our last chance for justice."

"There's a lot of hope that's still left, as hurt as the family is, knowing that we have Ven Johnson," said Womack.

Schurr's criminal attorney, Matt Borgula, couldn't be reached Thursday for comment.

But Borgula said a week ago after the trial that Schurr was pleased he would not be retried but that the case remained a tragedy and there was no sense of celebration. When asked what he would say to Lyoya's family, Borgula replied at the May 22 press conference: "It’s a tragic situation that regrettably ended up in his death.”

Jury selection second-guessed

Patrick Lyoya was killed on April 4, 2022, during a traffic stop and an early morning altercation with Schurr.

During the trial, Schurr — who had pulled over Lyoya, 26, at about 8:30 a.m. after his vehicle's license plate didn't match the car he was driving — said he feared for his life after Lyoya fled from the scene and the two wrestled over Schurr's Taser. Schurr shot Lyoya in the back of the head while face down on the ground.

Prosecutors maintained there was no "imminent threat" when Schurr shot Lyoya and that his Taser had already been deployed twice. The defense argued Lyoya had control of the Taser, while Schurr feared for his life.

An autopsy later revealed Lyoya's blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.

A jury deliberated for three and a half days earlier this month before Kent County Circuit Judge Christina Mims declared a mistrial. During the deliberations, the jury told Mims they were deadlocked, but she encouraged them to keep deliberating.

On Thursday, Womack said race played a part in the jury's selection. The 12-member jury consisted of three men and nine women. Ten jurors were White, while one was Hispanic and the foreperson was Black, according to WOOD-TV. But Johnson said Thursday there was only one person of color on the jury, "and no one of African-American descent."

"Not only did it play a part, but demographics also played a part," Womack said. "It seems like a lot of the jurors were picked who were from outside the urban area, and I was surprised they were on it."

Becker said last week the trial's jury was overwhelmingly leaning toward acquittal, and he said he didn't expect to find a different verdict from a "split community on this issue."

"This has been a very difficult case, and I apologized profusely. I'm very sorry I couldn't bring it to a conclusion for them," said Becker, who then referred to Lyoya's father. "He said, 'I lost a child,' and he did."

The Lyoyas and the attorneys said Thursday they wouldn't discuss their private conversation with Becker.

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(Staff Writer Max Reinhart contributed.)