Kendrell Lavar Lyles

Serial Killer

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.

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Confirmed Victims: (3)

Muhlaysia Booker Age: (22), Date of Death: May 18, 2019

Kendrell Lyles pleads guilty to murder of transgender woman ...