Muhlaysia Booker
Kendrell Lavar Lyles
Dallas Police have announced the arrest of Kendrell Lavar Lyles, 34, in connection with the murder of Muhlaysia Booker and two other people. Investigators said Lyles is also a “person of interest” in the murder of Chynal Lindsey and is also possibly connected with the 2017 death of Armani Dante Morgan. Investigations continue into those deaths and the deaths of at least two other black transgender women in Dallas.
Krista De La Rosa, a black trans activist who organized the Sunday, June 9 #BlackTransLivesMatter march on Cedar Springs, said, “I know this is far from ‘mission accomplished,’ but if this is the guy, this is one less monster on the street!”
SEE ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS HERE.
Lyles has been charged so far with three counts of murder, including the May 18 murder of Muhlaysia Booker. He is also charged with the murder of a woman shot to death May 22 at 7815 McCallum Blvd., and with the murder of a man shot to death May 23 at 17509 Coit Road.
Police said that a tip called in to detectives in connection with the May 22 murder, corroborated by information from a witness and information from cell phone records, led them to issue an arrest warrant for Lyles on June 5.
A witness also gave investigators information tying Lyles to the May 23 murder, and during their investigation into those cases, detectives realized that Lyles drove the same type of car — a light-colored Lincoln LS — believed to have picked up Booker near the intersection of Spring and Lagow the night she was killed. Cell phone analysis indicates that Lyles frequented the Spring/Lagow area and that he was in that area at the time Booker was picked up the night she died.
During a press conference late this afternoon (Wednesday, June 12), Assistant Chief Avery Moore indicated that Lyles is considered a person of interest in the murder of Chynal Lindsey, a black trans woman whose body was found in White Rock Lake on June 1, and possibly is connected to the death of Armani Dante Morgan, a black trans woman whose July 2017 death was initially ruled a suicide.
Police also continue to investigate the October 2018 shooting death of Brittany White, the July 2015 murder of Shade Schuler, both black trans women, and an April 2019 knife attack on another black trans woman, who has not been publicly identified.
Moore praised Dallas PD detectives for having done “an excellent job in investigating these cases,” commending them for “their diligence and coordination.”
He also thanks the community “because without the tips and witnesses coming forward, it is likely these cases would remain unsolved. It is through our partnerships with the community that we are all able to successfully combat crime.”
Officer Amber Roman, DPD’s LGBT liaison officer, noted in an email following the press conference that the two other murders Lyles has already been charged with”involve individuals that are not a part of the LGBTQ+ community.”
She added, “Tomorrow I [will] work with the head of our Crimes Against Person’s unit to compile a list of unsolved incidents over the past few years that involve the LGBTQ+ community and will send that information out as soon as I have it.”
