In the early morning hours of June 14, 1971, the city of Detroit was rocked by a brutal act of violence that would come to be known as the Hazelwood massacre. Inside an apartment on Hazelwood Street, eight individuals were shot and killed in what remains the largest mass murder in the city's history. Among the victims was Lloyd Taboo Tyler, a 27-year-old African-American man.
The scene discovered by police was grim, with the victims, including Tyler, found in the living room, having been shot in the head at close range with firearms of three different calibers.
The primary target of the attack was believed to be a heroin dealer named Robert Gardner. Law enforcement theorized that Gardner had recently robbed two drug dealers from Toronto and that the massacre was a retaliatory act. It is believed that Tyler and the other six victims were killed to eliminate any witnesses to Gardner's murder. Lloyd Tyler himself had a criminal record, including multiple felony convictions. He was also known to be a heroin addict.
Despite a significant investigation involving a team of 20 detectives, the Hazelwood massacre officially remains unsolved. In the immediate aftermath, police explored various leads, including the connection to the Toronto drug dealers. However, their investigation never led to any arrests or the definitive identification of any suspects. The case grew cold over time, leaving the families of Lloyd Taboo Tyler and the other seven victims without answers or justice. To this day, no one has been charged or convicted for the eight murders that occurred on that summer morning in Detroit.
