Advertisement

Patrick Lyoya's family files wrongful death lawsuit against former officer and city of Grand Rapids

The family of Patrick Lyoya, the Michigan man who was fatally shot by a Grand Rapids police officer during a traffic stop in April, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the former officer and the city of Grand Rapids.

An attorney for the family, Ven Johnson, said the suit alleges that Christopher Schurr, who was fired in June, used excessive force in his encounter with Lyoya and that various policies, practices and procedures in Grand Rapids contributed to Lyoya's death.

Matthew Borgula, an attorney for Schurr, said he had not seen the lawsuit and had no comment.

A spokesperson for Grand Rapids said in a statement the city had not received the lawsuit and was "unable to address the specifics."

ADVERTISEMENT

"Upon receipt, we will review the lawsuit and respond appropriately in court," the statement said.

Schurr shot Lyoya, 26, in the back of the head on April 4 after he pulled him over because his license plate didn’t match his car, according to police video released shortly after Lyoya’s death.  Lyoya, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, ran when he was asked for his driver's license and was facedown on the ground when he was shot.

Image: Dorcas Lyoya, center, the mother of Patrick Lyoya, is comforted as she grieves the loss of her son while he is laid to rest at Resurrection Cemetery on April 22, 2022 in Wyoming, Mich. (Scott Olson / Getty Images file)
Image: Dorcas Lyoya, center, the mother of Patrick Lyoya, is comforted as she grieves the loss of her son while he is laid to rest at Resurrection Cemetery on April 22, 2022 in Wyoming, Mich. (Scott Olson / Getty Images file)

Four videos of the encounter, including from a dashcam from the officer's car and a cellphone, showed Lyoya and Schurr struggling on the ground, with Lyoya apparently trying to take control of the officer’s stun gun. The officer ended up restraining Lyoya with a knee to his back before he shot him.

Lyoya’s killing spurred protests in Grand Rapids, with hundreds of people demanding justice and transparency from city and police officials. Grand Rapids, 160 miles west of Detroit, has a population of about 200,000.

"When you take driving while Black plus excessive force, you end up with Patrick Lyoya being unjustly executed by this Grand Rapids police officer," Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Lyoya's family, said at a news conference after the suit was filed.

A dashcam video shows Patrick Lyoya, 26, after a Grand Rapids, Mich., police officer pulled him over April 4 over an unregistered license plate. The video was blurred by police. (Grand Rapids Police Department via AP)
A dashcam video shows Patrick Lyoya, 26, after a Grand Rapids, Mich., police officer pulled him over April 4 over an unregistered license plate. The video was blurred by police. (Grand Rapids Police Department via AP)

The lawsuit does not specify an amount of money the plaintiffs seek and asks that a jury determine damages. Crump said at the news conference that the family is seeking $100 million, which includes compensatory and punitive damages.

"If they have to pay enough in the civil lawsuit, then the powers that be in the city of Grand Rapids will say, 'We're going to change these policies, because we can't keep paying out these wrongful death civil rights lawsuits,'" he said. "It is my crusade to go across America and raise the value of Black life to the point where it will become a financial impediment for them to not change policies."

Crump said he hopes the lawsuit, in addition to getting "justice for Patrick's family," will also "instruct police forces to not do this for a simple traffic violation just because the person is Black.”

Johnson and Crump said that among the evidence they plan to present is Schurr’s personnel record showing a previous foot pursuit in which he deployed his Taser. The attorneys played a synchronized video using the four recordings of Schurr's encounter with Lyoya at Wednesday's news conference.

Schurr was charged in June with second-degree murder, a felony punishable by life in prison. A judge ruled in October that he should stand trial, saying enough evidence had been presented in a preliminary hearing to let a jury decide whether Schurr was justified in the killing.

Cellphone video taken by a passenger in Patrick Lyoya’s car shows the moments before the fatal shooting.  (Passenger's cell phone video via Grand Rapids Police Department)
Cellphone video taken by a passenger in Patrick Lyoya’s car shows the moments before the fatal shooting. (Passenger's cell phone video via Grand Rapids Police Department)

“Factual questions remain as to whether the defendant reasonably believed that his life was in imminent danger or that he was in imminent danger of suffering great bodily harm and that deadly force was reasonably necessary," state District Judge Nicholas Ayoub said. "These are questions of fact that the jury must decide based on the totality of the circumstances as presented by the evidence at trial."

Borgula said he will appeal Ayoub’s decision in early January.

A trial date has not been set; Kent County Circuit Court Judge Christina Elmore has been assigned to the case. A status hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15.

Peter Lyoya, Patrick's father, said Wednesday that his son's death still haunts the family.

"The pain is so deep. The bitterness is so deep," he said through an interpreter Wednesday. Lyoya's native language is Swahili.

Lyoya pleaded for "justice for Patrick."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com