Attorneys for Patrick Lyoya’s family said the family wants to know the identity of the policer officer who shot Lyoya on April 4. They also want the officer to be fired and prosecuted.
The officer shot Lyoya after a traffic stop and a struggle over the officer's Taser.
Attorney Ben Crump spoke at a press conference Thursday along with an interpreter for Lyoya's parents, who are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“It is an unjustifiable use of deadly force because the police escalated a traffic stop into an execution,” he said.
Dorcas Lyoya, Patrick’s mother, spoke through the interpreter. She said the family fled violence in Congo.
“I thought that I came to a safe land and having a safe place," she said. "And I start thinking now I’m surprised and astonished to see that my son — that it’s here that my son has been killed with bullets.”
Patrick's father, Peter, said his heart has been deeply broken.
“What is making me cry more to see my son, he has been killed by a police officer, for a small, small mistake,” he said.
The Michigan State Police is investigating. The Grand Rapids police chief said on Wednesday he’s withholding the officer’s name until the investigation is finished.
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