Dr. Werner Spitz and attorneys (Photo: Rebecca Cook)

Dr. Werner Spitz and attorneys (Photo: Rebecca Cook)

A Metro Detroit pathologist hired by attorneys for Patrick Lyoya’s family confirms that the 26-year-old died from a shot to the back of his head, as indicated last week on a Grand Rapids police video of his April 4 traffic stop.


Patrick Lyoya (Family photo, via African Collaborative Network)

The private autopsy was conducted Saturday at a Grand Rapids funeral home by Dr. Werner Spitz, 95, a well-known forensic pathologist who served decades ago as medical examiner for Wayne and Macomb counties.

WOOD-TV of Grand Rapids posts coverage and the video below: 

Spitz's conclusion was that a large-caliber bullet entered the center back of Lyoya's head and traveled up and to the right before stopping near his right temple. At a Tuesday morning news conference with Lyoya's attorneys in Detroit, Spitz showed a model illustrating the trajectory of the bullet.

Spitz's autopsy report, which attorney Ben Crump read at the press conference, said death was instantaneous. He said fragmenting of the skull indicates the gun was in contact with Lyoya's head when it was fired.

"The deceased was conscious and aware that a gun was being held to the back of his head," Spitz wrote.

Kent County's coroner did an autopsy the day Lyoya died and will make it public after state police detectives wrap up an investigation of the shooting, he said earlier. The unidentified officer who shot Lyoya during a struggle after he tried to flee is on paid leave.

A march organized by the state’s Black Lives Matter organization is planned Thursday afternoon in Lansing, starting at 3 p.m. from St. Luke Lutheran Church on South Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol nearly a mile away for a 4-6 p.m. rally. "This is not the moment to be absent and silent," says a Tuesday social media post by Sean Holland, co-lead with Black Lives Matter Lansing.

Holland said protesters will call for the Grand Rapids police officer to be named, fired and prosecuted. They'llalso ask the governor’s office and state attorney general’s office to assure oversight, accountability and justice, he tells MLive. Attorney General Dana Nessel has offered assistance to state police investigators.

On Friday morning, a public funeral for Lyoya (pronounced LEE-oyy-YAH) will be at Renaissance Church of God in Christ on Grand Rapids' southeast side, about three miles from where he died.

He and his family came to the United States in 2014 as refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. West Michigan reportedly is home to about 700 emigres from that country.

Earlier coverage:

Read more: WOOD-TV