On Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 1986, the body of 32-year-old Debra Sue Blevins, a white female, was discovered in Kansas City, Missouri. Her nude body, except for socks, had been left in the bushes adjacent to the Hyde Park Christian Church. An autopsy would later reveal that she had been strangled to death. At the time of her death, Blevins was a mother to a nine-year-old daughter and was attending business school, trying to create a better life for her family.
For years, the murder of Debra Blevins remained unsolved, one of a string of similar killings of women in the Kansas City area that instilled fear in the community. The cases shared chilling similarities: many of the victims were left in secluded locations, had been strangled, and showed signs of sexual assault. Investigators worked tirelessly to find a connection and bring a predator to justice, but the trail went cold, leaving families to wonder if they would ever see a resolution.
The break in the case came years later with advancements in forensic technology. DNA evidence collected from the crime scene of Debra Blevins' murder, and others, was eventually linked to one man: Lorenzo Gilyard. Known as the "Kansas City Strangler," Gilyard was a trash-company supervisor who preyed on women between 1977 and 1993. His arrest in 2004 brought an end to his reign of terror.
In 2007, Lorenzo Gilyard was convicted of six counts of first-degree murder, including the murder of Debra Sue Blevins. The DNA evidence was a key component of the prosecution's case, definitively linking him to the victims. Following his conviction, Gilyard was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, ensuring that the man responsible for so much pain and loss would never walk free again.
