Kendrell Lavar Lyles: The 2019 Dallas Murder Cases
Overview
Kendrell Lavar Lyles was identified by Dallas police as a suspected serial killer after investigators connected him to three fatal shootings committed within a period of less than two weeks in May 2019. The victims were Muhlaysia Booker, Leticia Grant and Kenneth Cichocki. Although Lyles was charged in all three cases, he has been convicted only of Booker's murder. He pleaded guilty to killing her in November 2023 and received a sentence of 48 years in prison. The charges involving Grant and Cichocki were reported as separate and still unresolved proceedings.
The investigation attracted national attention because Booker was a young transgender woman whose name had already appeared in news reports following a widely publicized assault against her one month before her death. When police later connected Lyles to Booker and two additional shooting victims, authorities described the cases as serial homicides. Investigators relied heavily on cellphone records, witness statements, social-media communications and information about the vehicle Lyles was driving.
Victims Connected to Lyles
- Muhlaysia Booker, 22 — Died May 18, 2019 — Valley Glen Drive, Dallas, Texas: Booker was found lying face down near the 7200 block of Valley Glen Drive in Far East Dallas shortly after 6:30 a.m. She had been fatally shot. Investigators determined that she had entered a light-colored Lincoln LS in South Dallas approximately three hours before her body was discovered. Witness information, cellphone-location records and the description of the vehicle connected Lyles to her final movements. He pleaded guilty to her murder on November 6, 2023.
- Leticia Grant, 35 — Died May 24, 2019 — McCallum Boulevard, Dallas, Texas: Grant was found critically wounded after being shot in the head outside the Chatham Court Apartments in the 7800 block of McCallum Boulevard on May 22, 2019. She was transported to a hospital but died from her injuries two days later. Investigators said Grant had communicated with Lyles shortly before the shooting, and cellphone records reportedly placed his telephone near the location where she was found.
- Kenneth Cichocki, 29 — Died May 29, 2019 — Coit Road, Dallas, Texas: Cichocki was shot late on May 23, 2019, in the parking lot of an AutoZone in the 17500 block of Coit Road. He remained hospitalized before dying from his wounds on May 29. Police alleged that Cichocki had arranged through Facebook Messenger to purchase Xanax from an account associated with Lyles. A woman who was reportedly with Lyles that night later gave investigators an account of the shooting.
The Murder of Muhlaysia Booker
During the early morning hours of May 18, 2019, Muhlaysia Booker was seen entering a light-colored, early-2000s Lincoln LS near the 2800 block of Lagow Street in South Dallas. Approximately three hours later, a passerby discovered her body along Valley Glen Drive near Tenison Park Golf Course. She had no identification or cellphone with her when officers arrived.
Detectives obtained Booker's telephone records and discovered that her phone remained active after her death. Location information showed the device moving through some of the same areas as Lyles' cellphone. Police also learned that Lyles drove a champagne-colored 2001 Lincoln LS resembling the vehicle witnesses had seen Booker enter shortly before she disappeared.
A witness identified Lyles from a photographic lineup and told investigators that he was known by the nickname “Mississippi.” According to the arrest affidavit, the witness also said Lyles frequently visited the Lagow Street area. The combined witness identification, vehicle description and cellphone evidence led police to charge him with Booker's murder in June 2019.
Booker's death received extraordinary attention because she had survived a brutal public assault on April 12, 2019. That attack occurred after a minor traffic accident at an apartment complex in South Dallas. A recording showed Booker being repeatedly punched and kicked while people stood nearby. She suffered a concussion, a fractured wrist and other injuries. Police eventually determined that the earlier assault and her subsequent murder were separate crimes, and the man prosecuted for attacking her was not implicated in her death.
The Shooting of Leticia Grant
Four days after Booker's body was found, officers responded to the Chatham Court Apartments on McCallum Boulevard and discovered Leticia Grant suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Grant was alive when emergency personnel transported her from the scene, but her injuries were grave. She died at the hospital on May 24, 2019.
A witness later contacted investigators and claimed to have information connecting Lyles to Grant's shooting. According to the allegations described in arrest records, another person had heard Lyles make an incriminating statement about shooting Grant. When confronted, Lyles reportedly denied firing the weapon but acknowledged that he had been in the area.
Detectives also found evidence that Grant and Lyles had communicated around the time of the shooting. Cellphone-location information reportedly placed Lyles' device near the apartment complex when Grant was attacked. These details were used to support a murder charge, although Lyles has not been reported as convicted in Grant's death.
The Shooting of Kenneth Cichocki
On the night of May 23, 2019, only about a day after Grant was shot, Kenneth Cichocki traveled to an AutoZone parking lot on Coit Road. Investigators discovered Facebook Messenger conversations indicating that he had arranged to purchase Xanax from a social-media account that police connected to Lyles.
Cichocki sent a message stating that he had arrived shortly before he was found shot. A woman interviewed by detectives said she had been sitting in a vehicle with Lyles in the parking lot that night. She described Cichocki approaching and leaning toward the driver's side of the vehicle before she heard a gunshot. The vehicle then left the area.
The witness later showed detectives where the car had been parked, placing it close to Cichocki's vehicle and the shooting location. Cichocki was hospitalized for several days before dying on May 29, 2019. The witness account, electronic messages and location evidence led authorities to charge Lyles with his murder.
Arrest and Serial-Homicide Investigation
Lyles was initially arrested on June 5, 2019, in connection with the Grant and Cichocki cases. As detectives examined those shootings, they recognized similarities between his vehicle and the car Booker had entered before her death. Investigators then compared telephone records and found additional evidence placing Lyles in relevant areas during Booker's final hours.
On June 12, Dallas police publicly announced that Lyles had also been charged with Booker's murder. Authorities referred to the three cases as serial homicides because of their timing, geographic proximity and the evidence connecting the same suspect to each fatal shooting.
Police also examined whether Lyles might have been responsible for other attacks in Dallas. He was named as a person of interest in the death of Chynal Lindsey, a 26-year-old transgender woman whose body was recovered from White Rock Lake on June 1, 2019. However, police did not charge Lyles with Lindsey's death, and no reliable public evidence established that he was responsible for that crime.
Guilty Plea and Prison Sentence
Lyles was scheduled to stand trial for Booker's murder in Dallas County on November 6, 2023. Before jury selection began, he accepted an agreement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to murder. The court sentenced him to 48 years in the Texas prison system.
The guilty plea resolved the case without a trial, meaning the evidence against Lyles was not presented to a jury in a full public proceeding. Nevertheless, by entering the plea, he formally admitted criminal responsibility for Booker's death. Her relatives delivered emotional victim-impact statements describing the loss suffered by their family and the lasting consequences of the murder.
The cases involving Grant and Cichocki remained legally distinct from the Booker prosecution. Public reports continued to describe Lyles as facing additional murder charges in connection with their deaths. Because those accusations had not resulted in reported convictions, they remain allegations and should be distinguished from his admitted murder of Booker.
Legacy of the Cases
The murder of Muhlaysia Booker became an important symbol in discussions about violence against transgender people, particularly Black transgender women. Her death occurred after she had already survived a highly publicized act of violence, intensifying concern among community members who believed transgender victims were being placed at extraordinary risk.
Booker's family and supporters later established the Muhlaysia Booker Foundation to assist transgender women and preserve her memory. Although Lyles' guilty plea provided a measure of legal resolution, her relatives emphasized that no prison sentence could restore the life that had been taken from them.
The three investigations demonstrate how apparently separate shootings can become connected through digital evidence, witness cooperation and careful comparison of vehicles, communications and geographic movements. Lyles' cellphone records, Booker's missing telephone, Facebook messages involving Cichocki and communications with Grant all contributed to the police theory that one man was responsible for a concentrated series of killings.
Kendrell Lavar Lyles is therefore most accurately described as a convicted murderer who was accused by authorities of committing three serial homicides. His responsibility for Muhlaysia Booker's death was established by his guilty plea, while the deaths of Leticia Grant and Kenneth Cichocki were the subjects of additional murder charges that must be described as allegations unless and until they are resolved in court.
