GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Civil rights attorney Ven Johnson, Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack and the parents of Patrick Lyoya spoke at a news conference Thursday morning in Grand Rapids.
They expressed their feelings about the recent mistrial in the second-degree murder case against former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr. And Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker's subsequent decision not to seek a re-trial. Johnson says civil and federal law are clear.
"In a deadly force situation, the federal (and) state law is identical in criminal and civil. An officer is not allowed to use deadly force if lesser force is available to him or her, and it was," he said.
Johnson said he and other attorneys will meet with a judge on June 17 to get the civil case going. That will entail presenting a list of witnesses who will be testifying, obtaining depositions and receiving cutoff dates in the case.
Patrick Lyoya's father, Peter Lyoya, commented through an interpreter.
"I'm not tired," he said. "I will keep fighting for the justice of my son until we get justice. And until we bring that criminal to justice, and Patrick gets the justice he deserves. I will fight it to the end."
Schurr fatally shot the 26-year-old Lyoya during a 2022 traffic stop on the city's southeast side. He later claimed it was in self-defense.
WOOD-TV livestreamed the news conference.
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