KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Kalamazoo County Prosecutor is responding to concerns about whether or not the man accused of killing a sheriff's deputy should have been free at the time of the shooting.
Kyle Goidosik, of Vicksburg, was charged in June with three felony charges including possession of meth, felony possession of a firearm and concealed carry.
Court documents show Goidosik was released on a personal recognizance bond and was scheduled to be back in court on Sept. 15.
When asked about why Goidosik was given the opportunity for a personal recognizance bond due to the nature of the felony charges, Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Getting said the people in the criminal justice system are tasked with making difficult decisions that have to balance community safety, deterrence, consequence, and individual rights.
In a statement, Getting said, "The killing of Deputy Proxmire will cause all of us that are part of the criminal justice system to look closely at the decisions that were made in this instance so that we do everything possible to keep law enforcement and our community safe in the future.”
Goidosik was shot and killed at the end of a police pursuit when he fired at officers. Police said Goidosik shot and killed Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan Proxmire during an earlier exchange of gunfire.
The suspect was accused of violence in the past. In December 2020, Goidosik was charged and then later convicted of assaulting his father in 2021.
According to court documents, he was released on a personal recognizance bond and told not to contact his father.
Tonya Krause-Phelan is an experienced criminal defense attorney who also served as an assistant public defender in Kent County.
"It would be very uncommon for someone to have those pending warrants, those types of charges and failures to appear on his record to get out on a PR bond," Krause-Phelan said, who now serves as a criminal law professor at West Michigan University Cooley Law School.
She says judges have to weigh several different factors when deciding to allow bonds for certain cases.
"I can tell you, this is their worst-case scenario," she said. "It underscores what an important decision bond is, I think sometimes people in the system, it because it happens day in and day out, it can become sort of routine."
The suspect's parents said he suffered from "invasive and irrational thoughts" for years.
The family expressed their deep sorrow over the loss of Deputy Proxmire and are also grieving the loss of their son.
The Collin Rose Foundation, which was started after the shooting death of Officer Collin Rose at Wayne State University, launched an online fundraiser for Proxmire's family that has raised nearly $20,000.
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