Christopher Schurr trial: Jury deadlocked after first day of deliberations

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (FOX 2) - The jury in the trial of Christopher Schurr is deadlocked after a full day of deliberations.

The 12 men and women began meeting in the jury room to discuss the case on Monday. Around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, the jury told Judge Christina Mims that they were deadlocked on a verdict. Mims told the jury to return and continue deliberations until they had a result.

Schurr shot and killed Patrick Lyoya in 2022 after a struggle between the two escalated to deadly force following more than two minutes of the officer attempting to subdue the 26-year-old man.

The jury is deliberating on whether to convict Schurr on second-degree murder. However, during jury instructions, Mims also told the jury that they can consider a conviction for voluntary manslaughter as a possible verdict.

If the jury still cannot reach a verdict, a mistrial will be declared and the prosecution will then decide on whether to retry the case with a new jury.

Christopher Schurr on trial

Schurr's trial lasted over five days and included more than a dozen witnesses giving testimony before a jury panel picked from around Kent County.

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Among those called to the stand included family of Lyoya, former and current law enforcement officers from Michigan State Police and Grand Rapids, consultants and experts in various police practices. 

That includes professors that study traditional police policies, state troopers that investigated the officer-involved shooting, members of the Grand Rapids Police Department, and experts on tasers.

Schurr also testified in his defense - telling the court it was important for him to "get his side of the story" before the jury. 

But at the heart of the case was whether Schurr was acting as a reasonable officer would when he chose to fatally shoot Lyoya.