US police officer charged with second-degree murder in Patrick Lyoya death

WASHINGTON

A white Grand Rapids, Michigan police officer who fatally shot Patrick Lyoya in April has been charged with second-degree murder, the prosecutor in the case announced Thursday.

Kent County prosecutor Chris Becker said he decided to charge Christopher Schurr with one count of second-degree murder, a felony offense punishable by up to life in prison.

"Taking a look at everything that I reviewed in this case, I believe there is a sufficient basis to proceed on a single count of second-degree murder, and that charge has been filed with the court," Becker told reporters. "The death was not justified or excused, for example, by self-defense."

Schurr has turned himself in and is being processed, said Becker. The officer is scheduled to be arraigned Friday.

Lyoya, a 26-year-old migrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was fatally shot April 4. Becker said he provided a letter to the family in Swahili to explain his decision to charge Schurr.

The prosecutor said he received the full report on Lyoya's death on May 31, the Tuesday after Memorial Day, and made the decision to charge Schurr a little more than a week thereafter.

A series of videos released by the local police department document the shooting from multiple sources, including bodycam and dashboard camera footage, and home surveillance video.

Ben Crump, an attorney for the Lyoya family, said during a news conference in April that the "scientific evidence" laid out in an independent autopsy commissioned by the family depicts a "horrific" killing in which Lyoya was shot in the back of the head by an officer while he was on the ground.

The autopsy was carried out by Dr. Warner Spitz, 95, a prominent physician who has worked on several high-profile cases including investigations into US President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination and the 1968 murder of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

Lyoya's death is the latest that has elicited calls against police violence and for greater racial justice in policing.

Lyoya died after he was pulled over during a routine traffic stop that police have said was prompted by mis-matched license plates.

A series of four videos released by the Grand Rapids Police Department in April show Lyoya exiting the vehicle he was driving as the officer repeatedly tells him to get back in the car.

After exiting his police car, the officer repeatedly tells Lyoya to get back in his car, which he did not, beginning to walk away from the vehicle after he is asked for his driver's license.

"No. No. No. Stop," said the officer, who grabbed Lyoya and told him to put his hands behind his head as a scuffle broke out, and Lyoya ran. The officer then tackles him to the ground, telling him to "stop."

"Get your hands behind your back," the officer said as the struggle continues to unfold in the front yards of nearby houses. "Okay," said Lyoya.

The officer continues to appear to struggle to hold Lyoya on the ground before he attempts to use his taser as a scuffle breaks out over the non-lethal weapon.

"Let go of the taser," the officer said after a bodycam video appeared to show Lyoya grabbing it.

Still on top of Lyoya, who appears to be attempting to get up, the officer reached for his sidearm while continuing to tell him to "drop the taser." A gunshot can be heard before Lyoya's body appears to lay on the ground, lifeless.

Lyoya's family has called his death an "execution."