Patrick Lyoya shooting: Prosecutor won't retry Christopher Schurr for murder

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Kent County prosecutor will not retry the ex-Grand Rapids officer for murder following a deadlocked jury in the previous trial.

A judge declared a mistrial after a jury became deadlocked in the murder trial of Christopher Schurr. Schurr was initially charged with second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Patrick Lyoya in 2022.

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Prosecutor Chris Becker said Thursday he would not retry Christopher Schurr in the death of Lyoya, saying his team did everything they could but could not convince the entire jury of the ex-officer's guilt.

"I just don't see how - when you do the best you can - I don't see us reaching a verdict," he said.

According to the prosecutor, the jury entered deliberations pretty even: four jurors believed Schurr was guilty, four believed he was innocent, and four were unsure.

After the first round of debate, the pool shifted 7-5 in favor of not guilty. By the end of deliberations when the jury was still deadlocked, 10 believed Schurr was not guilty, while two believed he should be convicted.

"We did everything we could," Becker said, adding he had spoken to Lyoya's family about the decision, adding they were disappointed.

The backstory:

On April 4, 2022, Patrick Lyoya, 26, and a friend were driving in Grand Rapids when an officer pulled up behind them. Schurr, the only officer in his squad vehicle at the time, called a traffic stop in the area of Griggs Street and Nelson Avenue.

Schurr originally pulled Lyoya over for having improper vehicle registration. Lyoya had already been on probation at the time of the stop, which was for owning a license plate that was registered to a different vehicle than the one he was driving.

Lyoya ignored Schurr's orders when he exited his car. He later walked away from the officer, leading Schurr to try and grab him by the arm. Lyoya instead ran.

The altercation between Schurr and Lyoya eventually led to the officer chasing him, calling for backup, and ordering Lyoya to stop resisting several times. The two continued to wrestle, leading to Schurr pulling out a taser, which Lyoya pushed away.

The scene ended with Schurr on top of Lyoya, who was chest down on the ground. Schurr at times could be heard telling Lyoya to let go of his taser. Minutes later, Schurr drew his gun, presses it against the back of Lyoya's head, and shoots him.

The entire incident happened over 5 minutes, from 8:11 a.m. to 8:16 a.m.

Dig deeper:

After five days of testimony, including Schurr on the witness stand, and nearly three days of deliberations, jurors could not come to a unanimous decision, so a mistrial was declared on May 8.

Even if one juror disagrees with the other 11 on the jury, there is no verdict. While a judge can order the jurors to continue deliberating, they can also declare a mistrial if they don't think any more progress will be made.

After the mistrial, the family of Patrick Lyoya expressed gratitude for Becker's work trying the case, but implored him to try the case again.

"It seems like every day, we are reborn of the wound and the image of my son (being) killed," said Peter Lyoya, Patrick's father. "To see that all these three years where we have been waiting for this case to be settled, but Patrick was killed."

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