In the summer of 1978, a young family's journey took a tragic and fatal turn near Quartzsite, Arizona. On July 31, 1978, 24-year-old Marine Sergeant John F. Lyons, his wife Donnelda, and their 22-month-old son, Christopher, were traveling from Yuma, Arizona, to Omaha, Nebraska. Accompanying them was their 15-year-old niece, Teresa Tyson. Their trip was horrifically interrupted when they stopped to help what appeared to be a stranded motorist.
The disabled vehicle belonged to a group of
escaped convicts. The group was led by Gary Tison and included his three sons, Donald, Ricky, and Raymond, as well as fellow inmate Randy Greenawalt. The Tison gang had broken out of the Arizona State Prison in Florence just a day earlier, with Tison's sons smuggling weapons into the facility to aid the escape. When the Lyons family stopped to offer assistance, they were taken at gunpoint by the fugitives.
The Lyons family and their niece were forced into the convicts' vehicle and driven into the desert. There, in a brutal act of violence, John and Donnelda Lyons, along with their young son Christopher, were shot and killed. Teresa Tyson attempted to flee but was also gunned down. The bodies of John, Donnelda, and Christopher were discovered on August 6, 1978, near an abandoned Lincoln Continental. Teresa's body was found five days later, about a fifth of a mile away.
The discovery of the murders sparked an intensified manhunt for the Tison gang. Their crime spree continued with additional thefts and murders until they were finally apprehended. Randy Greenawalt and the Tison brothers were captured after a high-speed chase on August 11, 1978. Gary Tison managed to evade capture initially but was later found dead in the desert from exposure. Greenawalt and the surviving Tison sons were tried and convicted for their roles in the murders. Randy Greenawalt was sentenced to death and executed in 1997, while the Tison brothers received life sentences.
