By Grand Rapids Anonymous
friday, may 2, 2025 at 5:32:00 p.m. edt
Day 5: Christopher Schurr testifies--says, "I didn't know a second taser shot had gone off...I was getting exhausted...I wasn't aiming at his head when I fired...afraid if I didn't respond, I wouldn't be going home that night"
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Former Grand Rapids Police Department Officer Christopher Schurr testified Friday that he feared for his life when he shot and killed Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head during a struggle.
“he took the witness stand in his second-degree murder trial in Kent county circuit court, more than three years after the shooting.
“I feel like it’s important to get my side of the story out,” he said when his attorney asked why he testified.
“updates from day 5 of trial: Schurr takes the stand
“he testified for three hours, taking a deep breath as his attorneys showed a video of the shooting and at one point appearing to choke up. nobody else could testify about his state of mind that day; the fear he said he felt as he and Lyoya fought over his taser.
“'if I had waited for him to point it at me, it would have been too late,' Schurr testified about the fight over the taser.
“when asked what he was afraid of, he said: 'that he was going to use it on me and I was going to die.
'So,' his defense attorney asked, 'what did you do next?
“'I shot him,' he said. 'I believe that if I hadn’t done it at that time, I wasn’t going to go home.
“Schurr was 31 when the shooting happened and is now 34. he said he married his high school sweetheart about 10 years ago.
“he said on a cold, rainy morning on april 4, 2022, he spotted a slow-moving nissan on the city’s southeast side that made an abrupt turn. he said he couldn’t see who was inside and never identified the driver. he ran the plate and found it was invalid, he said, leading him to pull over the car and approach the driver, Lyoya, who had already gotten out.
“'he proceeds to run away from me,' he testified.
“that led to a 2.5-minute tussle starting in the street and leading to front yards.
“Lyoya pushed him away, he said — committing a felony for resisting and assaulting a police officer.
“Schurr said there’s no department policy against foot pursuits. he told the jury he had been involved in 100 or so foot chases in his seven-year career in grand rapids and as many as 40 on his own, but had never fired his gun on duty.
“'I was just trying to arrest him,' he said.
“the struggle, he said, quickly exhausted him.
“'I’m wondering why he’s fighting so hard,' he said.
“'one of the main reasons I brought the Taser into it is because I had no energy left to begin with, and then get into a struggle over it for I don’t know how long, and I’m running on fumes.”
“witness in murder trial: Schurr created jeopardy that led to shooting of Lyoya”
“he said he recalled firing the taser once as Lyoya grabbed for it. the shot failed.
“at this point, I’m afraid he’s going to get the taser from me and use it on me.
“he said he never noticed that the taser had fired a second time.
“as he straddled Lyoya, he said, Lyoya got control of his taser in his right hand.
“'at some point I started feeling him turning towards me, and I feared he was going to use it on me,' he testified.
under cross-examination, Kent county prosecutor Chris Becker suggested Lyoya never tried to hurt Schurr — that he never struck the officer and never threatened him.
[N.S: That's a lie. Lyoya shoved Officer Schurr, as a prelude to fleeing, and he wrested the taser from him--both acts of assault.]
“'you’re not saying he did anything else but try to get away?' Becker asked him.
“'I wouldn’t use that blanket statement,' Schurr responded.
“'he grabbed your taser, he moved it away from him because he didn’t want to be tased, right?' Becker asked.
[N.S.: Lyoya grabbed Officer Schurr's taser, in order to use it on him to incapacitate him, so he could seize his service weapon, and murder him with it.]
“'I don’t know what his intention was,' Schurr answered.
Schurr testified that he wasn't aiming for Lyoya's head when firing his weapon.
GRA: More testimony on Monday. Schurr saying he was unaware of the second taser shot being fired changes everything about the case, because the officer assumed it was still a fully functional device--and why he didn't want Lyoya to get control of it.
--GRA
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"THE DEFENSE RESTS," IN CHRISTOPHER SCHURR TRIAL,MONDAY MORNING
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The trial of a former Grand Rapids police officer who is accused of murder after he shot and killed a driver following a traffic stop continues into its sixth day Monday.
Christopher Schurr is accused of second-degree murder in the death of Patrick Lyoya.
On Friday, Schurr took the stand for more than three hours. Throughout the week, the jury heard more than 30 hours of testimony from experts and witnesses, including an expert on police practices policies, tactics and use of force. Court broke for the day Friday while the prosecutor was cross-examining him, which will resume Monday.
Schurr on shooting Lyoya: ‘If I didn’t respond at that time, I wouldn’t be here’
Monday’s blog with updates from the court after proceedings begin around 9 a.m.:
1 of 1
an hour ago
The defense rests - 'evidence complete'
The defense rests, and the prosecution calls one rebuttal witness, Michigan State Police Detective Aaron Tubergen. He says in the case of an officer involved shooting by Grand Rapids police, MSP will investigate – per an earlier agreement. Officer Christopher Schurr did follow-up interviews with MSP, which Tubergen said were “purely voluntary.”
“It looks like the evidence is complete,” Judge Christina Mims says after the witness is excused. Jurors are excused so all the parties can discuss issues prior to closing statements.
Monday begins with a cross-exam of defense witness Lewis Kliem, who was on the stand Friday. He is the 12th defense witness to testify. Kleim is with Force Science Institute, which analyses use of force cases. Prosecutor Chris Becker asks about foot pursuit policies, and whether it is prudent to chase a suspect for offenses ranging from curfew violations to felony offenses.
--GRA
JURY TAKES THE CHRISTOPHER SCHURR CASE AT 12:40 PM MONDAY
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The jury in the murder trial of former Grand Rapids Police Department Officer Christopher Schurr has begun deliberating his fate in the April 2022 killing of Patrick Lyoya.
The 12-member jury — 10 whites, one Hispanic and a woman who identified herself as biracial — started deliberations at 12:40 p.m. Monday.
Jurors were given three choices: Guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of voluntary manslaughter or not guilty of anything.
The judge allowed the manslaughter option over the objection of the defense.
The difference between second-degree murder and manslaughter is that, in manslaughter, the killing is the result of “emotional excitement,” the judge told the jury.
Second-degree murder carries a term of up to life with parole; manslaughter carries up to 15 years in prison. In both cases, the prosecution must prove the killing was not justified.
In the five and a half-day trial, jurors heard from 23 witnesses, including Schurr.
--GRA
NO VERDICT ON MONDAY,JURY RESUMES DELIBERATIONS TOMORROW. JUDGE ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTING TO SWAY THE JURY
GRA:Well,no quick guilty verdict,but as they say about juries,"Who knows?"
In his closing arguments,Christopher Schurr's attorney said,"This was no murder."
Matt Borgula then again asked for a mistrial on the grounds that the negress judge,Christina Mims,had rolled her eyes,as testimony was being given by Schurr.
Video showed her denying the motion,not admitting to the gestures and saying,"I don't know the defendant or the victim."
Victim sounds subjective too--how about deceased?
Damn nig*ers.
--GRA
How about "dead,felon nig*er?"
--GRA
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