Kent County District Attorney Christopher Becker will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. EST to announce whether charges will be brought against Officer Christopher Schurr in the April 4 death of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese refugee.
The murder outraged Lyoya’s family members and they demanded that prosecutors bring charges against Becker. It sparked protests from activists who say the shooting is an example of unwarranted police violence against young black men.
A medical examiner who performed an independent autopsy on Lyoya said the officer held his gun to the back of the man’s head and fired once.
Kent County Chief Medical Examiner Stephen Cohle said in his autopsy that Lyoya had a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit, local media reported.
Police released videos of the incident showing Lyoya getting out of the car on a rainy street, seemingly confused and asking “What did I do?” while the policeman asks him several times for his driver’s license and orders him to return to the vehicle.
Lyoya appears to comply, but then closes the car door and tries to walk away, resisting the officer’s attempts to handcuff him. After a short chase on foot, the two men face off on a lawn, at one point arguing over the officer’s stun gun, before Lyoya is shot.
The incident began after the officer stopped Lyoya on suspicion of the vehicle’s license plate.