Patrick Lyoya case moves forward after immunity denial

Key Takeaways

• A federal judge denied qualified immunity to former officer Christopher Schurr, allowing Patrick Lyoya’s civil rights lawsuit to proceed.
• The ruling means a jury will determine whether Schurr violated Lyoya’s Fourth Amendment rights during the 2022 shooting.
• The civil trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 19, 2026, following a mistrial in Schurr’s criminal case and dropped charges.

Patrick Lyoya’s family secured a significant ruling in its federal civil rights lawsuit against Christopher Schurr, the former Grand Rapids, Michigan police officer who fatally shot the 26-year-old in 2022.

U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney ruled Thursday (Aug. 6) that a jury can decide whether Schurr violated Lyoya’s civil rights. Schurr’s attorneys argued that he was entitled to immunity because his “use of force was objectively reasonable,” according to The Associated Press. At this stage of the case, Maloney said he was required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to Lyoya’s family.

“The record suggests that [Schurr] shot a man who posed no threat of violence, held no weapon, and who was under defendant’s physical control,” Maloney wrote. “That violates the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures.”

Schurr stopped Lyoya on April 4, 2022, after determining that the license plate on the Nissan he was driving did not belong to the vehicle. The encounter was followed by a foot chase and a physical confrontation that lasted more than two minutes. As bodycam footage appeared to show, Schurr was on top of Lyoya on the ground when he fired a single shot into the back of the 26-year-old’s head.

Schurr maintained that he acted in self-defense because Lyoya had control of his Taser. In Thursday’s ruling, however, Maloney said Schurr’s version of what happened with the Taser did not fit with the video evidence. A jury will ultimately determine whether Schurr violated Lyoya’s civil rights.

What happened in the criminal trial against Christopher Schurr?

Schurr was subsequently charged with second-degree murder and fired from the Grand Rapids Police Department after seven years on the force. His criminal trial ended in a mistrial in May 2025 after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker subsequently declined to retry the case and dropped the charge.

Lyoya’s estate alleged Schurr used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The City of Grand Rapids was previously dismissed as a defendant. Schurr also challenged an earlier denial of qualified immunity at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, but the court dismissed his appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his petition in April 2025.

Per FOX 17, a jury trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 19, 2026, in federal court in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Lyoya family attorney Ven Johnson said the latest decision preserved the core civil rights claims despite Schurr’s repeated efforts to have the case dismissed.