A split Michigan Court of Appeals panel ruled Thursday that a former Grand Rapids police officer can stand trial over a second-degree murder charge, after the officer fatally shot a Black motorist on the city's southeast side in April 2022.
In their opinion, Court of Appeals Judges Kathleen Feeney and Colleen O’Brien wrote a district judge did not err in binding former Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr over for trial, echoing arguments from prosecutors that it should be up to a jury to decide whether Schurr used appropriate force in fatally shooting Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese refugee, during a traffic stop.
In June 2022, Schurr was charged with second-degree murder by the Kent County Prosecutor's office, and was bound over for trial after a preliminary examination in Oct. 2022. Schurr was fired from the department shortly after the charge was announced.