Former Grand Rapids police officer who fatally shot Patrick Lyoya to stand trial for murder

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The former Grand Rapids police officer who fatally shot Patrick Lyoya during a traffic stop last April will stand trial for murder. 

Christopher Schurr was charged with second-degree murder for the killing of Lyoya after he pulled him over for an improper license plate. Judge Nicholas Ayoub said that while there may be facts that could give a judicial officer pause when considering the charge, it was up to a jury to decide if the evidence proved without a reasonable doubt that Schurr murdered Lyoya. 

The decision follows a pre-trial hearing last week when multiple people testified over the case, including a current police captain at the Grand Rapids department and a friend of Lyoya.

RELATED: Man who recorded fatal Patrick Lyoya police shooting testifies at hearing for Christopher Schurr

Ayoub made it clear in his motion, which he read Monday morning, that it was the court's role only to decide if enough evidence had been presented to justify allowing a jury to decide if the proof is sufficient for a conviction. 

It was not up to the court to weigh in on how the evidence stacks up against the charge. The judge's decision means Schurr will be bound over for circuit court. The bond remains the same. 

"In applying the probable cause standard, there is at least some evidence from which a person of average intelligence could conclude the defendant's shooting of Lyoya in the back of the head was not reasonably necessary to prevent his escape," Ayoub said. 

To that point, a juror could find there not enough evidence to justify shooting Lyoya for the purpose of preventing his escape, the judge said.

While video from the officer's body camera, police cruiser, and a nearby home only caught the initial skirmish, cell phone footage of the incident caught from someone who was riding with Lyoya showed the moment when Schurr unholstered his firearm and shot the 26-year-old in the back of the head. 

During the pre-trial hearing, Lyoya's friend Aime Turishime testified that he started recording the encounter when it turned physical. 

"At first, I was just sitting in the car. When I see him and the officer started wrestling, I know something was wrong, that’s when I took off," he said. 

According to Turishime, Lyoya pulled over because he heard a funny noise from his car. Moments later, Schurr initiated a traffic stop for an improper license plate. He also testified that the night before, the two were drinking alcohol and partying with friends. Lyoya's blood alcohol level was .29 when he died.

A Grand Rapids police captain said he believed that Schurr had followed policy has it was written within the department.

In reading from the opinion, Ayoub underscored the jurisdiction of the court in the case was limited in its scope and that it was the judge's job only to determine if there is sufficient evidence for a trial - not if it could be interpreted one way or another. 

The evidence the defense used to argue there was no sufficient proof for a trial dealt with self-defense, that he used appropriate force in response to force used by Lyoya, and that he used reasonable force to prevent a felon from fleeing. 

It will be up to a jury to decide of Schurr's use of force was necessary. 

"The touchstone of any claim of self-defense as a justification for homicide, is necessity," Ayoub said, reading from a previous state supreme court ruling, "and indeed the court confirmed that generally questions concerning the existence or lack of reasonableness or necessity in resorting to deadly force in self-defense are for the jury to decide in considering all of the circumstances."

Lyoya's killing was the latest fatal shooting between a Black citizen and a white police officer in the U.S. to draw scrutiny of law enforcement and its policing practices.