GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Patrick Lyoya's girlfriend says she's struggling to understand what happened on April 4, 2022. She says he was a man that was always there for her. Thursday, both she and the family spokesperson said they want justice.
"We want answers," Shajuan Kelly said.
Many of Lyoya's loved ones have a lot of questions.
"Why was the gun pulled out? You know, did you guys search what led up to the stop? I just want to know why he pulled the trigger," Kelly said.
Kelly was Lyoya's on and off again girlfriend for four years. She's expressing her frustration with not getting answers.
Answers she says she would get after seeing the video of what led up to the death of the man she saw a future with.
"Because right now you said he was going to release it. Now you're saying you're not," she told FOX17.
One person who says they have watched the video is Patrick's father, whose spokesperson Israel Siku told us they are disputing the police department's claims that there was a struggle on Monday morning.
Siku and the family say Patrick was already on the side of the road, tending to a car issue when police pulled up.
"Patrick was face down, laying on the floor, and the officer was on top of him with his knees. Without hesitation, he pulled out the gun and shot him on the back of the head," Siku said. I would like to see him handicap than dead. They could shoot him in the leg. They can shoot him in the back, maybe they could give a chance to call his father, but shoot him on the back of the head? That is inexcusable.
'Do you have anything to say to The Grand Rapids police department?' I have nothing nice to say to them. Nothing to say.
Kelly says Lyoya was never violent. She says the only trouble Lyoya got into was driving under the influence.
"He was trying to better himself, and I see that he was trying to better himself. He's trying (inaudible) back, you know, but life's too short," she added.
The family is still waiting for investigators to release the body. Kelly says they're now working on burial arrangements for the 26-year-old.
"He always thought his kids would bury him, not he burying one of his sons. That is what is happening right now," Siku said.
