Kent County Attorney Chris Becker says his office accuses Officer Christopher Sur of second-degree murder of Loya’s death by gunfire. I’M WATCHING: Kent County Attorney Announces Charges Against Christopher Sur in Full Press Release Prosecutor Becker made the announcement at a press conference at the Michigan State Police Headquarters in Grand Rapids on Thursday afternoon. According to Becker, Schurr has already surrendered. Records show that Schurr was transferred to Calhoun County Penitentiary shortly before 2 p.m. The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday afternoon that Schurr is in Calhoun County Jail at the request of the Kent County Sheriff. In a statement, the sheriff’s office said this was common in cases where someone had previously worked for the jurisdiction where he is accused. “The details of the second-degree murder are relatively simple. First, there was a death, a death committed by the accused. And then, when the murder happened, the accused had one of these three states of mind: intent to kill, intent to do great bodily harm, or intent to commit an act that the natural tendency of that act would be to cause death or great bodily harm. And finally, that death was neither justified nor justified, for example, by self-defense. “Looking at everything I looked at in this case, I think there is a good basis for making just one second-degree murder report,” Becker said. Second-degree murder is a felony. Schurr faces life in prison with the possibility of parole if convicted. Becker says he plans to prosecute the case and will not resign. Following the announcement, attorneys Ben Johnson and Ben Crabb gave a press conference with Patrick’s family. Lyoya family, lawyers react to decision to indict police officer who shot and killed Patrick “The Kent County Attorney, who certainly has never recalled another officer, although there have been several shootings for this crime in the past, how clearly he believes this is the evidence,” Johnson said. Johnson said he would have the full cooperation of the Lyoya family and their lawyers. Crump issued a statement following Becker’s announcement. Interactive timeline of events related to Patrick Lyoya’s death: THE HAPPENING It’s April 4, 2022. It’s Monday and it’s raining in Grand Rapids. Shortly after 8 a.m., a gold Nissan Altima is pulled over by a Grand Rapids police officer near the intersection of Griggs Street and Nelson Avenue. The driver, 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya, is leaving Nissan. The body cameras and dashboard and video of cell phones from attendees record what happens next. All videos of Patrick Lyoya shooting “Stay in the car!” the officer yells at Lyoya as he exits his police cruiser. Again, “stay in the car.” Lyoya remains standing on the driver’s side and looks confused as the policeman approaches and asks for his permission. asks if he speaks English. “The license plate does not belong to this car,” the officer explained to Lyoya. RELATED: Video shows GRPD officer shooting Patrick Liogia in the head Lyoya opens the door, speaks to a passenger who is inside and after a few moments of silence, closes the car door and begins to walk away without another word. The officer grabs Lyoya’s green sweater and the two begin to fight. In the next few minutes, Lyoya and the officer fight on the grass of a house on Griggs Street. He was told nine times to stop resisting. A teaser is fired – two minutes have passed since the officer first came in contact with Liogia. He shouts at Lyoya to drop the device. Both their hands are on him, the video shows. Eventually, the officer’s body camera falls off and no longer records video. The cause of the malfunction is still being investigated. In other parts of the race – a passerby’s phone and a neighbor’s camera – the taser fires again. “Throw the teaser!” shouts the officer again. Seconds later, with Lyoya on his stomach and the officer on top of him, the officer approaches backwards, pulls out his gun and fires a single shot at Lyoya in the head, killing him. Lyoya’s body is lying on the grass. It has been a little over three minutes since he and the officer said their first words to each other. Short of breath, his breath appears in the humid April air, the officer reaches for the radio. It stands just a few meters away from Lyoya’s immobile body. “1915”, he shouts with heavy breaths the number of his signal, “I just participated in shootings”. As he completes his call, in the video, the sirens start ringing in the background. THE VICTIM Patrick Lyoya was born on February 5, 1996 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – the eldest of six children of Peter and Dorcas Lyoya. From a young age, Lyoya was active and passionate. He was a fanatical dancer and a fan of football. “He was a diamond in his family and the leader of his brothers,” said a program from his funeral, written in both English and Loya’s native Swahili. “Patrick loved the holidays when the whole family gathered and celebrated.” “Patrick was a warm and affectionate person who would do anything for his family and friends,” he continued. “Patrick was a tender man, he loved people,” his father told FOX 17 through an interpreter four days after his son’s death. “He was like a brother to me.” Lyoya left the Congo as a teenager, living in a refugee camp in Malawi for several years before moving to the United States at the age of 18. When he arrived, Lyoya attended Everett High School in Lansing for a short time. Years later, he was tagging with a friend he met in the refugee camp at Restoration Community Church – a small Methodist church inside a church that shares a building with the Wesley United Methodist in Wyoming. His pastor, Banza Mukalay, who is also a Congolese native and spent the same time in a refugee camp, says Lyoya could not have been more than 23 when he first walked through the church. “He was very ready to change his life and [do] “Something good,” Mukalai recalled. “He had a future.” Like the rest of the Grand Rapids, on April 13, Mukalay watched live-streamed videos from the Grand Rapids police station of Lyoya’s murder. “I was so shocked because I did not have the mind to feel that Patrick could die,” he said. “What happened to Patrick was so frustrating for everyone. Whichever refugee you talk to, they will tell you the same. “We were very discouraged when we saw how this happened to Patrick.” Photos from the rallies: At a rally in downtown Grand Rapids a few days after Loya’s death, Jimmy Baruan stoically hears the screams of the organizers through bullfights. She is wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with Lioya’s face on the front with the words “Justice for Patrick”. Barwan is also a Congolese native and has been so close to Lyoya since the two met in Western Michigan that he is referred to as his brother throughout the interview. “Everything we did, we did together,” says Barwan. “It was a tragedy for all of us. It hurts. It really hurts. “ “We left Africa to come here, to feel safe,” Barwan said. “Imagine being with someone and not being there the next day. Someone who meant so much to you… model “. Lyoya was also the father of two young children. In another interview a few weeks later, Barwan shows videos of toddlers kissing their father’s face on a t-shirt. He says that they keep asking for him. But they are young – one is less than a year old – and Barwan says they still do not understand their father’s fate. The April 4 incident that resulted in his death was not Lyoya’s first brush with law enforcement. Court documents show that in May 2017, Lyoya fled the scene of a car accident – his license, at the time, had been suspended. In March 2021, Michigan State Police arrested Lyoya for acting while intoxicated in Allegan County. According to a police report, the soldier followed Lyoya’s car for two miles and noticed speeds ranging between 40 and 50 miles per hour. The soldier says the car crossed the main line three times. A preliminary breath test showed Lyoya’s blood alcohol level at 0.223. The legal limit in Michigan is 0.08. FOX17 received a video of the incident, which shows a stark difference from Lyoya’s interaction with police during a traffic stop in April 2022. Lyoya complied with most of the soldier’s demands, although he appeared to be he is confused about what was happening. He asked, “What did I do?” several times while the state police interrogated him. I’M WATCHING: Video of Patrick Lyoya arrested in 2021 for operating while intoxicated in Allegan County Three days before Lyoya’s murder, an arrest warrant was issued for him on a single charge of domestic violence against an apparent girlfriend. Ven Johnson, a lawyer for the Lyoya family, described Patrick’s file as “very unrelated” to his murder. “Whatever is said to be there, the officer will not know,” he said. You would have heard the officer use it one way or another, like “dude, do not run because I know you have a warrant for blah”. You did not hear any of this. “ “It has nothing to do with this case,” Johnson said. “In the 36 years I have been doing this, my client’s criminal record has never been proven – a complete and complete criminal record.” Lyoya’s assassination devastated the local immigrant community. Mukalay says that his shock …
