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Patrick Lyoya laid to rest on Friday, so what's next?

Patrick Lyoya's parents, Peter and Dorcas Lyola and lawyer Ben Crump
Daniel Boothe
/
Daniel Boothe
Peter Lyoya, (middle) and Dorcas Lyoya (left) say they left the Democratic Republic of the Congo to pursue a '"safer" life in America--where their son Patrick Lyoya died at the hands of law enforcement.

Lyoya family legal team vows to 'fight for justice' in the days ahead.

Now that Patrick Lyoya has been laid to rest, his family’s legal team says its focused on what comes next.

At the funeral Friday, Patrick Lyoya’s legal team vowed to pursue indictments and lawsuits over the death of the 26-year-old Congolese immigrant who died after being shot in the back of the head by a Grand Rapids Police Officer on April 4th.

The family has hired Civil Rights attorney Ben Crump, the same lawyer who represented George Floyd’s family and Breonna Taylor’s family, as well as others.

He says the family is still demanding that the police officer’s identity be made public and charges be brought as well in their son’s death, who died within minutes of being pulled over for a license plate infraction.

“It's not like he murdered someone, it's not like he robbed anybody," Crump said. "He was stopped for a traffic violation."

After demonstrations over the weekend, attention now turns towards the Michigan State Police who are handling the investigation and what charges the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office might bring after the investigation has concluded.

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