DETROIT — Lawyers for the family of Patrick Lyoya are sharing their findings of an independent autopsy Tuesday.
Attorneys Ben Crump and Ven Johnson hosted a news conference Tuesday, April 19 at 10:30 a.m. at The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit. They revealed the results of Lyoya's independent autopsy done by forensic pathology expert Dr. Werner Spitz on April 16 in Grand Rapids.
Lyoya, 26, died at the hands of a Grand Rapids Police officer on April 4 during a struggle stemming from a traffic stop.
13 ON YOUR SIDE has asked GRPD for the name of the officer involved, but authorities have not publicly named the officer captured on video during the incident.
According to the attorneys, 95-year-old Spitz is world-renowned and has worked on prominent cases including the investigations of the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Spitz concluded that Lyoya died as the result of a single gunshot wound that entered the back of his skull near the midline.
He says he believed the gun was pressed to the back of Lyoya's head when the bullet traveled up to the right side of his skull and lodged near his right temporal bone.
Dr. Spitz said there was no other injury on Lyoya's body other than the fatal gunshot wound.
"This independent autopsy report confirms what we all witnessed in the horrifying video footage - unarmed Patrick Lyoya was conscious until the bullet entered his head, instantly ending what could have been a long and fruitful life," Crump said.
"This young man and his family moved to the United States to pursue a better and safer life, yet he was brutally killed at the hands of a police officer, who failed to deescalate the situation before he took Patrick's life."
The family and many others in the community are demanding justice.
"The Grand Rapids Police Department and the officer, who pulled the trigger that killed our client, must be held accountable," Johson said.
Kent County's Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen D. Cohle recently said he completed Lyoya's autopsy on April 4. He prepared a death certificate with the cause and manner of death, but he's waiting on toxicology and tissue test results to come back.
The coroner said his autopsy report would not be publicly available until after the MSP complete their investigation.
The funeral is set to take place Friday, April 22 at 11 a.m. at the Renaissance Church of God in Christ, located at 1001 33rd Street SE in Grand Rapids. The service is open to the public, but masks are required for entry.
Speakers will include civil rights activist Al Sharpton, Ben Crump and Commissioner Womack.
The National Action Network has pledged to help cover his funeral costs.
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