DETROIT — Attorneys for Patrick Lyoya's family said Tuesday the 26-year-old's death appears to be a “classic” case of Lyoya being targeted for a “driving while Black" traffic stop.
Ben Crump, one of the family's attorneys, divulged the new angle during a news conference that announced the results of an independent autopsy. Lyoya was profiled by the Grand Rapids police officer who ultimately shot him in the back of the head, Crump said.
Lyoya died of a gunshot wound to the back of head, an autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz confirmed. Spitz said that based on his examination, he believed the officer who shot Lyoya held the gun to the back of his head.
“This is evidence of this tragic killing, which his family believes was an execution,” Crump said.
Spitz said in a report that Lyoya otherwise had a normal life expectancy, which he estimated would have been about 82 years.” Lyoya had no other injuries to his body other than the bullet wound, he said.
The racial profiling accusation emerged because video viewed by Crump and Metro Detroit lawyer Ven Johnson showed the officer facing Lyoya's car and doing a U-turn from about a block and a half away to pursue the car.
"How did he know that Patrick's tag registration wasn't valid when he's coming from the opposite direction?" Crump asked. "These are things that attorney Johnson and I want to investigate intensely, because it goes to the mentality of that police officer, and it goes to the culture that was manifest in that police department."
Johnson said he and Crump did not have all videos of the incident yet, but they wanted to examine the body camera itself. The body camera was off during the actual shooting. For the camera to be turned off, it needed to be pressed for three seconds, although it is not clear how it was pressed down.
Kent County Chief Medical Examiner Stephen Cohle has not released the results of his autopsy, and spokeswoman Lori Latham said he is awaiting toxicology results that could take 60 days. Cohle has requested the results be expedited, Latham said, but it is unclear when they will become available.
Spitz did not do a toxicology exam, said Johnson, but Spitz later confirmed that he had taken a blood sample to send to a lab in Pennsylvania. The attorneys sought an independent exam in addition to the medical examiner's autopsy because they didn’t know anything for sure other than that Lyoya died of a gunshot wound, Johnson said.
Spitz has worked on many prominent cases, according to a release from Crump, including investigations into the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Michael Jackson. He has an office in St. Clair Shores and worked on the 1987 crash of Northwest Flight 255 that killed almost all of its passengers except for a 4-year-old girl.
Crump declined to say what specific criminal charges he wanted to see against the officer at this time, but reiterated that Lyoya's family felt it was murder.
Lyoya had no other injuries on his body, said Spitz, who estimated Lyoya likely died immediately from "a powerful bullet" but that he was aware the gun was to the back of his head.
"Our team of lawyers will explore every possible legal remedy to give this family justice," Crump said.
Crump added that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had met with Lyoya's family on Monday and promised "the most thorough investigation possible." The U.S. Department of Justice will also be reviewing the matter, he said.
The news conference was held a day after the family and National Action Network said civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton would deliver the eulogy on Friday for Patrick Lyoya.
Sharpton heads the National Action Network and has "vowed" that he and the network will pay for the funeral costs of Lyoya.
Crump said he will "make a call to action" during the service.
Lyoya was shot by an unidentified Grand Rapids Police Department officer during an April 4 traffic stop in which the officer asked for Lyoya's driver's license and Lyoya eventually fled the car and a chase on foot ensued. The two men ended up struggling over the officer’s stun gun, according to video footage released last week by the Grand Rapids Police Department, before the officer shot Lyoya in the back of the head while Lyoya was face down on the ground.
In roughly 20 minutes of footage, Lyoya can be heard saying, "Stop what you are doing, please," while the officer can be heard shouting to Lyoya, "Let go of the Taser," before firing the fatal shot.
Both Crump and Johnson said while Lyoya was "resisting" police, he was not fighting the Grand Rapids officer. Lyoya did not throw punches in the incident, Johnson said, and was not warned by officer that he was going to be Tased.
Michigan State Police are investigating the shooting and Kent County Prosecutor Christopher Becker said his office plans to review Lyoya's death once State Police conclude their investigation. Becker said he doesn't expect to ask the state attorney general for help.
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