The family of a Congolese immigrant is asking for the Kent County prosecutor to reverse his decision not to release footage of their loved one’s slaying during a traffic stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Relatives want answers about what they claim was a case of an officer shooting the 26-year-old in the back of his head while he allegedly was belly-flat on the ground.
Patrick Lyoya was fatally shot and killed by a Grand Rapids Police officer on Monday, April 4, when he was pulled over because his license plate did not register as belonging to the vehicle he was driving.
One report says when Lyoya was pulled over, he exited his car and tried to run to escape being detained. The officer, who has now been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation, alleges his gun went off after the two fought.
During the weekend’s justice protest in honor of the deceased, the bereaved family and supporters shared their loss and determination to find answers about the killing and asked for officials to release bodycam and dashcam footage that recorded his last moments.
“Patrick is my firstborn. He became like a brother to me,” said Patrick Lyoya’s father Peter Lyoya through an interpreter because he predominantly speaks Swahili. “Today, I don’t know what to do because I am confused. I want justice for Patrick.”
Present at the march were other family members, like his aunt who held a picture of her nephew and cried out loud. Also there was Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack, who wiped tears from his face as a woman vocalist soundtracked the moment with Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come.”
The family is calling for transparency after Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker asked police not to release any evidence, including video, until the investigation is complete.
Michigan State police showed dashcam video from the officer’s cruiser to the father and his interpreter of the shooting on Wednesday, April 6. According to Peter, Lyoya was shot in his head while he was already lying flat, face down on the ground. The father commented after seeing the video, “Right now, I’m bleeding. I’m hurt.”
So graphic was the footage, the interpreter said he “could not watch” it more than once.
After seeing the video, the family now disputes the officer’s version of the altercation.
“To see that the police officer hold my son and kill him like an animal,” Lyoya said. “When he got my son he put him on the ground and his hand was behind his back. From that moment he took the gun and he shoot him in the back of the head.”
“I asked for them to show me where my son is being laid,” the father said to the press on Friday, April 8. “And, until now, I haven’t seen the body of my son. What I want right now is to see the body of my son.”
On Sunday, April 10, civil rights attorney Ben Crump weighed in on the killing at a community forum at Renaissance Church of God in Christ in the Family Life Center in Grand Rapids.
He said to the people gathered and viewing on the center’s Facebook, “You should not be sentenced to death over a traffic stop.”
“The tragedy that this young man was killed unjustly and unnecessarily when he already conceded… he was face down,” he further remarked.
Womack also attended the conversation and said, “I’m glad [Bliss and City Manager Mark Washington] were here, not taking sides of the police or the community. But letting this community and family know that they share the pain that the family is going through as human beings.”
The commissioner was instrumental in connecting the Lyoyo family with Crump’s office, who is now representing their legal interests.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said he would make the video public by noon on Friday, April 15.
With the promise of the release, a cautious Peter stated he didn’t want “the video to be edited.”
“I want people to see the way my son was killed,” he said. “I want the entire world to see how my son was executed.”
Fox 17 reports the officer that shot Lyoyo has not been interviewed about the tragic incident because his lawyers are on vacation. While the officer is required to make a statement to the department about firing his weapon in the line of duty, such statements are only used for the purpose of determining departmental discipline, not a criminal investigation.
Becker says he will not jump to making any decision on the possible charges regarding the police-involved shooting until after he reviews MSP’s report, which could last anywhere between a few weeks or a couple of months to complete.
Seven years ago, Lyoyo and his family, his parents and two siblings, came to America to escape the violent conflict in their native country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lyoyo was a father of a 2-year-old and a 3-month-old.
