DETROIT — Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton is scheduled to deliver the eulogy on Friday for Patrick Lyoya, the motorist killed by a Grand Rapids police officer following an April 4 traffic stop, Lyoya family attorney Benjamin Crump said Monday.
The funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at Renaissance Church of God in Christ, 1001 33rd Street SE, in Grand Rapids.
Sharpton heads the National Action Network and has "vowed" that he and the network will pay for the funeral costs of Lyoya, 26.
Crump said he will "make a call to action" during the services.
The announcement came on the same day that Crump and Metro Detroit attorney Ven Johnson said they planned to hold a Tuesday news conference in Detroit to detail the independent results of an autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz. The medical examiner has not released the results of his autopsy of Lyoya.
Patrick Lyoya was shot by an unidentified Grand Rapids Police Department officer after 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.
In roughly 20 minutes of footage released Wednesday by Grand Rapids Police, 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.
Lyoya, Crump said in the Monday statement distributed by the National Action Network, was "on his hands and knees, facing the ground" when he was shot. The officer, whose name the family has called for to be released, is on paid leave while the incident is being investigated by the Michigan State Police.
Family members and mourners gathered Saturday for a vigil at a Lansing church where they called for justice for Lyoya.
The vigil ended with a moment of silence for Lyoya. The family asked people to spread their message through a hashtag, #Justice4Patrick, and told attendees not to speak to the media or provide interviews.
The family has called for another protest at 4 p.m. Thursday in downtown Lansing with a march to the state Capitol.
Lyoya immigrated with his family to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014.
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