DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan police officer who fatally shot a Black man in the back of the head after a tumultuous traffic stop will not face a second trial, a prosecutor said Thursday, two weeks after a trial ended without a unanimous verdict.
The decision by prosecutor Chris Becker is certain to upset civil rights activists and the family of Patrick Lyoya, the 26-year-old Congolese immigrant whose death in the front yard of a Grand Rapids home was recorded on video and played repeatedly at trial.
Becker said he doubted that a second jury would come up with a different result.
“I just don't see a place where we get 12 people to agree. This has split the community,” he told reporters in Kent County, 160 miles (260 kilometers) west of Detroit. “I've heard over the last two weeks people passionately on both sides calling me, emailing me, advocating for and against a retrial. That didn't play a role.”
Christopher Schurr, 34, who was a Grand Rapids officer, claimed self-defense, saying he feared for his life and shot Lyoya because the man had control of his Taser. He was charged with second-degree murder, though the jury also was allowed to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Schurr's attorney, Matt Borgula, said he believed a second trial would have resulted in another hung jury or an acquittal.
“I think everybody agrees that the death of Patrick Lyoya was a tragedy,” Borgula said. “The evidence showed, at least to this jury, that Officer Schurr's actions were justified.”
The jury gave up on May 8, the fourth day of deliberations. Becker said posttrial interviews showed as many as 10 of the 12 jurors wanted to acquit Schurr.
Lyoya’s death in April 2022 was the climax of a fierce struggle that lasted more than two minutes. Schurr stopped a car for having the wrong license plate. Lyoya stepped out of the car, didn’t produce a driver’s license and began running.
Schurr was on top of Lyoya on the ground when he shot him in the back of the head. The entire confrontation was recorded on video, with the officer demanding that Lyoya drop the Taser and stop resisting.
At trial, defense experts said the decision to use deadly force was justified because the exhausted officer could have been seriously injured if Lyoya had used the Taser, a powerful device designed to immobilize its target. The prosecutor’s experts, however, said Schurr could have simply let Lyoya run.
The Lyoya family's attorney, Ven Johnson, said a desire to hold Schurr accountable in a second trial has been lost. Meanwhile, a lawsuit alleging excessive force is pending.
"This is not a verdict nor the outcome the Lyoya family sought,” Johnson said.
Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand did not indicate whether he agreed with the prosecutor's decision. But he said the end of the criminal case will be a “source of immense pain" for the family.
“Many in Grand Rapids will feel a deep sense of frustration and a belief that justice remains unfulfilled. These feelings are valid and must be acknowledged,” the mayor said in a written statement.
It’s not known why Lyoya tried to flee the traffic stop. Records show his driver’s license was revoked at the time and there was an arrest warrant for him in a domestic violence case, though Schurr didn’t know that. An autopsy revealed his blood-alcohol level was three times above the legal limit for driving.
Ed White, The Associated Press
