A former Michigan police officer who shot a black driver in the back of the head will be tried for second-degree murder, a United States judge said Monday. Judge Nicholas Ayoub announced his decision after hearing testimony last week and viewing video about the death of Patrick Lyoya in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A jury will decide whether Christopher Schurr’s use of deadly force was necessary “after a full and fair trial,” Ayoub said. Lyoya, 26, briefly ran from a traffic stop and then struggled with Schurr on a front lawn before the white officer shot him at point-blank range. The final moment last April was caught on video by a man who was a passenger in the car with Lyoya. Schurr repeatedly told Lyoya to take his hands off the officer’s Taser, according to video. The Congolese refugee was face down on the ground when he was killed. Ayoub only had to find probable cause to send the case to Kent County Circuit Court, a low level of evidence at that stage under Michigan law. “The law recognizes that law enforcement officers are required to make split-second life and death decisions in dangerous and stressful situations,” Ayoub said. “The reasonableness of these actions can hardly be fully and fairly judged by a person in a black robe with 20-20 hindsight and from the comfortable and safe vantage point of the high perch of the armored judges’ bench.” Schurr’s attorney argued Friday that the officer was acting in self-defense when Lyoya wouldn’t give up. A forensic video analyst, Robert McFarlane, testified that Lyoya failed to comply with 20 orders. “He pushed. He pushed, he popped his arms,” said attorney Matt Borgula. Schurr, an officer for seven years, was fired in June after being charged with murder. An attorney representing Liogia’s family, Ven Johnson, said a trial would be a key step toward “getting full and complete justice.” Grand Rapids, which has a population of about 200,000, is located 260 kilometers (160 mi) west of Detroit. Lyoya’s killing by an officer came after several others in recent years involving black people killed by police, including George Floyd, whose death in Minneapolis sparked a national reckoning on race. Daunte Wright, who was shot during a traffic stop in suburban Minneapolis. Andre Hill, who was killed in Columbus, Ohio. and Andrew Brown Jr, who was killed in North Carolina.
