Jurors deadlocked in ex-officer's murder trial. Judge says keep trying
- Christopher Schurr is charged with second-degree murder and faces up to life in prison if convicted
- His attorneys have argued he acted in self-defense after Patrick Lyoya resisted arrest
- Prosecutors have argued that the use of deadly force was unreasonable and unnecessary.
GRAND RAPIDS — A judge urged jurors to keep working Tuesday after they said they couldn't reach a unanimous verdict in the murder trial of a former Grand Rapids police officer who fatally shot a 26-year-old Congolese immigrant minutes after a routine traffic stop.
“Talk things over in the spirit of fairness and frankness. ... By reasoning the matter out, jurors can often reach agreement," Kent County Judge Christina Mims said.
Christopher Schurr has claimed self-defense in the killing of Patrick Lyoya following a brief foot chase and fierce physical struggle in a Grand Rapids residential neighborhood in 2022.
Schurr, 34, is charged with second-degree murder, but the jury can also consider a lesser charge of manslaughter. After a pep talk from the judge, jurors resumed discussions and will return again Wednesday. Deliberations began Monday afternoon.
Lyoya’s mother rocked side to side in her seat as the judge spoke to the jury. Schurr and his wife left the courtroom holding hands.
Related:
- Officer says he was ‘running on fumes,’ feared for life before killing Lyoya
- Officer 'flooded with fear' before shooting Lyoya, lawyer says as trial opens
- Patrick Lyoya’s parents: Our hearts are broken. Grand Rapids mourns as well.
The shooting on a cool, rainy spring morning was recorded on video. Schurr was on top of Lyoya and had lost control of a Taser to him. He repeatedly ordered Lyoya to drop the weapon and to stop resisting before he shot him in the back of the head.
In his closing argument, prosecutor Chris Becker said Lyoya was “no saint,” noting his resistance, a high blood-alcohol level and his lack of a driver's license.
But “none of those are executable offenses,” Becker told the jury.
Defense attorney Matthew Borgula said Schurr genuinely feared for his life after losing control of his Taser, which is designed to temporarily incapacitate someone with electric current.
“Christopher Schurr was at work, and he was faced with the toughest decision of his life in half a second,” Borgula said.
Schurr was fired from the Grand Rapids department.
The shooting prompted protests in the city, and demonstrators on both sides have stood outside the courthouse during the trial with signs that say, “Stand with Schurr” and “Justice for Patrick.”
Civil rights groups decried the shooting as more aggression against Black people in the US by white officers.
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