GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A neighbor who witnessed the battle that ended when then-Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr shot and killed Patrick Lyoya testified that he begged Lyoya to surrender.
“Just stop, whatever you’re doing,” neighbor Wayne Butler testified Monday. “Just stop. Just stop. Like this is an officer of the law. In America’s history, this is how it ends every time.”
Butler was amongst eight witnesses who testified for the prosecution as Schurr’s second-degree homicide trial bought underway in Kent County Circuit Court docket in downtown Grand Rapids.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker instructed Information 8 he has three extra witnesses, all specialists. Two have been anticipated to testify Tuesday. The third won’t be accessible till Wednesday.
Updates from Day 1 of former GRPD officer’s homicide trial in dying of Patrick Lyoya
Prosecutors confirmed video of the April 4, 2022, taking pictures to the 14-member jury. At one level after it was proven, Lyoya’s mom sat exterior the courtroom in tears.
The video exhibits Schurr shot Lyoya as soon as at the back of the top after a battle that lasted 2.5 minutes, together with a tug-of-war over the officer’s Taser. The officer had pulled Lyoya over in a site visitors cease for having a plate from a 2015 Ford Fiesta on his Nissan.
The neighbor mentioned he watched a few of the battle from simply toes away in his entrance yard.
“He’s out of his car,” he mentioned of Lyoya. “That was the first thing: ‘Man, you’re not supposed to get out of the car.'”
He mentioned Lyoya wasn’t complying with the officer, however he additionally by no means noticed him punch, kick or threaten the officer. He mentioned he watched because the officer fired the Taser at Lyoya, hitting him within the chest with out success. He then noticed the 2 wrestle over the Taser.
“Patrick was trying to keep the Taser, like he was like trying to keep the Taser away from him,” he mentioned.
He mentioned he might see that each the officer and Lyoya have been exhausted.
“I’m a sports fan,” he mentioned. “It’s like watching a game where the team has the lead the whole time. It might be close, but one time has the lead the entire game.”
And, he mentioned, Schurr at all times had the lead.
The neighbor mentioned he ran upstairs to get his cellphone, figuring out there was nothing he might do, simply seconds earlier than the deadly shot, which he didn’t witness.
“The last six seconds, God spared my eyes, yes,” he mentioned.
Lyoya case: There is no altering what occurred on this entrance yard
The passenger in Lyoya’s automotive that morning, Aime Tuyishme, mentioned that they had been listening to African music with associates and consuming the night time earlier than at a good friend’s home. Lyoya spent the night time on the sofa. The following morning, shortly earlier than the site visitors cease, they stopped and picked up Budweisers.
Lyoya had a blood alcohol content material degree of .29 — greater than triple the authorized restrict to drive of .08.
“The next thing I know, he (Lyoya) was having words with the officer,” he mentioned.
“It started looking bad,” he mentioned, so he bought out of the automotive and captured video of a lot of the battle and the taking pictures on his cellphone.
“They both were kind of aggressive toward each other,” he mentioned. “It was two people going back and forth.”
OPENING STATEMENTS
In his 21-minute opening assertion, Prosecutor Chris Becker instructed the jury the taking pictures was not justified.
“A single gunshot wound right to the back of the head. That’s what killed Patrick Lyoya on a cold, wet, rainy day back in April 2022,” Becker instructed the jury.
Becker mentioned Lyoya had no intention of wounding the officer and that the Taser they fought over had fired twice and was now not a sound menace. A Taser, he mentioned, causes neuromuscular incapacitation. It causes muscle groups to grab.
“As soon as it’s released, it’s done,” he mentioned.
“A reasonable officer in that situation would not think death was going to happen, would not think the use of deadly force was necessary,” he continued.
“We’re not saying he shouldn’t have been arrested. Patrick committed crimes, there’s no question about that,” he mentioned. “He was driving without a license plate, he didn’t have a driver’s license, he resisted arrest. He pulled away.”
And Lyoya was drunk, he mentioned.
“Did he have to kill him in the course of trying to arrest him? If you look at all the evidence, the answer is no,” Becker mentioned.
The decide had beforehand dominated the protection could not talk about Lyoya’s felony historical past, saying it wasn’t related as a result of Schurr didn’t determine him earlier than the taking pictures. The protection argued it was related as a result of it might present why Lyoya was making an attempt so exhausting to flee.
A warrant for Lyoya’s arrest for a home violence cost had been signed April 1, days earlier than the taking pictures and he had been beforehand convicted of home violence, and working whereas intoxicated. Michigan State Police data present three arrests associated to stolen property, together with a minimum of one involving a stolen car.
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In court docket Monday, the protection argued that the jury ought to hear concerning the felony historical past after a prosecution witness opened the door by saying he was a very good individual. The decide as soon as once more dominated in opposition to that.
‘POSSESSION OF THE TASER WAS THE MAIN ISSUE’
Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Aaron Tubergen, the officer accountable for the investigation, testified that Lyoya resisted arrest and shoved the officer, each felonies.
Tubergen mentioned the Taser was nonetheless on the scene when he arrived to research.
“It was clear during our preliminary investigation that possession of the Taser was the main issue,” he mentioned.
The Taser was finally despatched to producer Axon for evaluation.
Tubergen mentioned he analyzed images from the scene and picked up digital proof, together with video from a close-by doorbell digicam that confirmed the taking pictures.
MSP Detective Sgt. Zachary Batchelor’s job was to investigate that doorbell digicam video, in addition to dashboard and body-worn digicam video and cellphone video. On the witness stand Monday, he mentioned he did not really feel comfy releasing a slowed model of the video.
“This is a use of force case and slowing down and changing the perception of what is happening could be detrimental to the court,” he mentioned.
He did, nevertheless, provide frame-by-frame evaluation.
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Lyoya suffered a single gunshot wound to the again of his head. It was seemingly a contact wound, based on Kent County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Cohle, saying there was no gunpowder residue across the wound.
“It indicates either the wound is a distant wound … that is the muzzle to the person is greater than 3 or 4 feet,” Cohle mentioned. “It can also mean it’s a contact wound in which the muzzle is up against the head, such that the gunshot residue is blown into the wound rather than being deposited around the wound. … I think it probably is a contact wound.”
Jessica Beaudry, a criminal offense scene technician for the Grand Rapids Police Division, mentioned she took images of Schurr after the battle, testifying that his proper wrist regarded crimson and swollen, there was “some dirt and debris” on the left aspect of his face and there have been some minor scratches on his palms.
“Normally, Officer Schurr is outgoing, happy, kind of just overall excited to be at work, I would say. And after this incident, he was just quiet and didn’t really speak very much,” she mentioned.
The protection says Schurr was doing his job when he stopped Lyoya’s automotive for having an invalid license plate, that Lyoya ignored 29 lawful instructions, that the Taser was a doubtlessly lethal weapon, that Lyoya was greater and stronger than Schurr, and that, regardless of the officer’s name for backup, he had none.
“‘Let go of the Taser, let go of the Taser, drop the Taser,'” protection legal professional Mikayla Hamilton instructed the jury. “These are the ultimate instructions that Officer Schurr gave to Mr. Lyoya earlier than he was compelled to decide he hoped by no means to should make.
She mentioned Schurr noticed Lyoya holding the Taser in the course of the battle and “turning up towards him, and in that split second he had to ask himself the most terrifying question anyone would ask: ‘Am I about to die?'”
He was afraid that he would not make it house that night time, she mentioned.
“He didn’t choose to take a life. He chose to save his own,” the legal professional mentioned.
The trial is predicted to renew Tuesday.
WOODTV.com could have a reside weblog of updates from court docket all through the trial, in addition to a stream of the proceedings on a court-mandated 30-minute delay. The delayed court docket proceedings can be discovered on WOOD TV+.
