A trial date has been set for a former Grand Rapids police officer who fatally shot a man in the back of the head after a scuffle that followed a traffic stop.
Christopher Schurr is charged with second-degree murder in the 2022 death of Patrick Lyoya.
Schurr, who is white, pulled over Lyoya, who is Black, for a traffic stop, saying the license plate didn't match the car Lyoya was driving.
Video footage published by the Grand Rapids Police Department shows Lyoya tried to flee. Schurr chased him down. Then, Schurr said, they struggled over control of his Taser.
The struggle ended when Schurr, on top of Lyoya, who was on the ground, shot Lyoya in the back of the head.
Earlier this month, the state Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Schurr's attorney, who argued the now-fired officer should not have to face trial, both because Schurr believed Lyoya fled after committing a felony, and because Schurr fired his weapon in self defense.
The Supreme Court's denial of the case left in place an appeals court finding that a jury should decide whether there's enough evidence that Schurr acted outside of the standards for self-defense.
Schurr's trial is set to start in April 2025 — more than three years after Lyoya was killed.
