DALLAS — The man accused in the killing of Muhlaysia Booker, a transgender woman who was found dead in Dallas in 2019, has pleaded guilty and will receive a sentence of 48 years in prison, officials said Monday.
Kendrell Lavar Lyles, 37, was set to go on trial Monday on a murder charge in the case. Instead, he entered a guilty plea, according to the Dallas County District Attorney's Office.
Victim impact statements will be held Thursday.
"No amount of time can bring Muhlaysia back, and although we wish the sentence was capital punishment, our family can finally have some sense of closure knowing that justice was served and he can’t cause any more families hurt and pain," Booker's mothers, Stephanie Houston, said in a statement provided to WFAA.
"We hope this sentence sends a message that trans lives matter, and those who decide to do this community harm will face justice," Ahmad Goree, Muhlaysia Booker Foundation Board President, said in a statement sent to WFAA. "Thank you to the Dallas Police Department and their detectives for solving the case so quickly, and Dallas County District Attorney's Office for their work to bring this case to a close."
Lyles is facing two addtional murder charges out of Collin County for the deaths of Leticia Grant, 35, and Kenneth Cichocki, 29, according to court records.
In May 2019, Booker was found lying facedown in the street in the 7200 block of Valley Glen Drive around 6:44 a.m.
Police said she was killed, and officers linked Lyles to Booker's death about a month later.
Police said Booker had no identification, nor her cellphone, when her body was found. Investigators searched for her phone records and found that Booker's phone was still active several hours after her death, an arrest warrant said.
Lyles' phone records showed that his phone was in the same area of Booker's phone, according to the warrant. He was also at the time driving a light-colored Lincoln LS that matched the description of the vehicle Booker was seen getting into before her death, the warrant says.
About a month before Booker was killed, she was brutally assaulted outside of an apartment complex in Oak Cliff. Video of the assault went viral, leading to widespread calls for justice for Booker among Dallas activists.
Dallas police arrested 29-year-old Edward Thomas for his alleged role in the assault of Booker. Someone offered to pay Thomas $200 to carry out the attack, according to an arrest affidavit.
Lyles' other cases
Lyles was also connected to the death of Grant, who was found shot in the head on May 22, 2019, in a parking lot in the 7800 block of McCallum Boulevard. She remained in grave condition until she died days later.
Arrest records showed a witness contacted investigators, saying she knew Lyles had killed Grant.
After seeing on social media that Grant had died, the witness said she was contacted by another woman who said she heard Lyles say he shot Grant. When the first woman asked Lyles about it, he denied it but then said he was in the area when Grant was killed, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Cellphone records showed that Lyles and Grant were in communication around the time of the shooting. The records also show Lyles' cellphone was in the area of the shooting.
The day after Grant was shot, police said Cichocki was found shot in an AutoZone parking lot in the 17500 block of Coit Road. He died May 29, 2019.
Cichocki sent a Facebook message saying "Here" six minutes before he was found shot in the parking lot, an arrest warrant shows.
He had been in contact with a Facebook profile known as "Kush out Kenny," which was linked to Lyles by police. Messages show the two were in contact the evening of May 23, 2019, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Detectives interviewed a woman in June 11, 2019, who allegedly told police she was in her car with Lyles the night Cichocki was shot.
The woman said she and Lyles were smoking marijuana at the AutoZone parking lot, police said. At one point, Lyles got out of the car to use the restroom, according to police. The woman told police that Cichocki then leaned into the driver's side window and she heard a gunshot, the warrant said.
The woman then drove away, police said. She later showed police where she was parked during the shooting, per the affidavit.
It was right by the parking space where Cichocki had parked, the warrant said.
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