Mary Tyler, a 37-year-old woman, was one of the victims in the tragic Kentucky Fried Chicken murders that occurred in Kilgore, Texas, on September 23, 1983. On that fateful evening, armed robbers held up the KFC restaurant just before it closed. The five people present at the time—three employees and two friends—were abducted and taken to a nearby field. There, they were executed with shots to the back of the head. Mary Tyler, along with Opie Ann Hughes , Joey Johnson , David Maxwell , and Monty Landers , were the victims of this heinous crime.
The case remained unsolved for over two decades. Initially, several suspects were arrested, including James Earl Mankins Jr., whose charges were later dropped due to DNA evidence. It wasn't until 2001 that DNA testing linked cousins Darnell Hartsfield and Romeo Pinkerton to the crime. Both men were already serving prison sentences for other offenses at the time of their arrest. In 2007, Romeo Pinkerton pleaded guilty to the murders and received five concurrent life sentences. Darnell Hartsfield was convicted in 2008 and also received five consecutive life sentences.
Despite the convictions, there have been ongoing discussions about the possibility of a third perpetrator, as DNA evidence indicated that one of the victims, Opie Ann Hughes, had been sexually assaulted. The investigation into the murders continues, and the search for any additional suspects remains open.
The Kilgore community was deeply affected by the loss of Mary Tyler and the other victims. Mary Tyler, who had worked at the KFC for years, left behind a husband and four children. The case garnered significant media attention and remains one of the most infamous unsolved crimes in East Texas history.
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