ABC News April 15, 2022

'Burying my son': Parents of man killed by Grand Rapids police officer speak out

WATCH: Grand Rapids police shooting victim’s family speak out

The family of a man fatally shot by a police officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, earlier this month is demanding that the officer be fired and prosecuted.

“It is an unjustifiable use of deadly force because police escalated a traffic stop into an execution,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Patrick Lyoya's family, said during a press conference Thursday.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Dorcas and Peter Lyoya, the parents of Patrick Lyoya attend a press conference held in response to videos showing their son's killing, in Grand Rapids, Mich, April 14, 2021. The 26-year old Black man was shot and killed by a white Grand Rapids police officer following a traffic stop.

Lyoya’s mother, Dorcas Lyoya, who cried throughout the press conference, says she left her home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo “to escape war” and thought her son would be safe here, but is now heartbroken.

“As a parent, I was thinking maybe it was my son who was going to bury me, he will assist at my funeral, but what is so astonishing, I am the one burying my son,” Dorcas Lyoya said through the help of a translator.

Grand Rapids Police Department via AP
A monitor displays an image of Patrick Lyoya from police bodycam video during an encounter with a Grand Rapids police officer, during a press conference on April 13, 2022, at Grand Rapids City Hall. Lyoya, 26, was shot and killed about 8:10 a.m., on April 4, after what police said was a traffic stop.

Patrick Lyoya's father, Peter Lyoya, compared his son's death to crimes seen in other countries.

“I didn’t believe that in this country, that there was a genocide in this country, I didn’t know,” Peter Lyoya said through a translator.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
National civil rights attorney Ben Crump holds a press conference with the family of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year old Black man who was shot and killed by a Grand Rapids police officer following a traffic stop, on April 14, 2022 in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Video of their son’s death on April 4 was recorded on an officer's body camera, dashcam video, security cameras and a bystander's cellphone. Police released the footage Wednesday amid community pressure.

The footage shows a white police officer, whose name has not yet been released, struggling with the 26-year-old after chasing him on foot following a traffic stop. The officer eventually forces Lyoya to the ground and is heard shouting, “stop resisting,” “let go” and "drop the Taser," before shooting him in the head.

While many residents have expressed shock over the incident, Cle Jackson, the president of the Grand Rapids NAACP, says it was a matter of time before such an incident happened.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Dorcas Lyoya, the mother of Patrick Lyoya cries during a press conference held in response to videos showing her son's killing, in Grand Rapids, Mich, April 14, 2021. The 26-year old Black man was shot and killed by a white Grand Rapids police officer following a traffic stop.

“We’ve been trying to bring reform for decades here. Some folks here have said, ‘a George Floyd will never happen in Grand Rapids. This would never happen in the city of Grand Rapids’. Now I always have to remind them it's not if this is gonna happen, it's just when it's going to happen. And today is our real day,” Jackson told ABC News.

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Jackson says issues involving police officers in the city have been going on for years. In 2018, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights opened an investigation after several complaints against the Grand Rapids police by Black residents, he said.

The department held public hearings where several people voiced concerns, but declined to set a timeline for when the investigation would be completed.

Jackson says the NAACP is intrigued to see if changes will come with the police department's new chief, Eric Winstrom. The NAACP is joining with the family and Crump in calling for the officer to be fired, he says.

The Grand Rapids Police Officers Association did not immediately respond Thursday to ABC News' request for comment regarding calls for the officer to be fired.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom speaks at a press conference where video footage was released of the police shooting of Patrick Lyoya, on April 13, 2022 in Grand Rapids, Mich. Lyoya, a 26-year old Black man, was shot and killed on April 4, 2022 by a Grand Rapids police officer following a traffic stop.

“I think [Winstrom] has an opportunity to come to Grand Rapids and do the type of cleanup work that needs to happen in this department...the number one metric or the initial metric that we will be able to determine if he is committed to improving community police relations for the city of Grand Rapids is to do the right thing and fire the officer," Jackson said.

Winstrom said Wednesday that Grand Rapids Police and Michigan State Police are conducting an ongoing investigation and he would not comment further or take any action until after the investigation is completed.

He said the officer is a seven-year veteran of the department who is currently on paid leave and “stripped of all police powers” amid the investigation.

“I view it as a tragedy...It was a progression of sadness for me,” Winstrom said about the shooting.