Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Mya Lyons was only 9 years old when her short life ended in horrible violence.

Her body was found in an alley in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood early Tuesday, and relatives said police told them she had been stabbed multiple times. Earlier, it was also believed she was sexually assaulted, although an autopsy did not indicate that.

Mya lived with her mother, Erica Barnes, in Addison but for the last three years had been spending part of the summers with her father, Richard Lyons, in the 8400 block of South Gilbert Court.

Mya's mother had come by to pick her up Monday but Mya asked to stay with her father longer, said Karen Brown, Mya's great aunt.

Mya had last been seen playing video games with her older brother and a friend at a neighbor's house a few doors down.

The neighbor said Mya and her brother left around 11 p.m., and she watched them walk home. But at midnight, Mya's father, Richard Lyons, said his daughter was not in the house. He and the neighbor got in a van and went out to search for her.

"Everybody was like, 'where is she?' We went looking for her and I found her in the alley. They dumped her in the alley,'' at the end of the block near his home, Richard Lyons said Tuesday morning, breaking down.

Investigators could not say why she left the home, but said that right now it appears she was out of the residence of her own volition.

Lyons rushed her to Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 2:10 a.m. Tuesday morning. Mya appeared to have suffered stab wounds in the abdomen.

"My heart is heavy," father Richard Lyons said. Despite his grief, he talked about his loss. "No matter how much you think you can protect them, that you can hold them, that you can keep them safe, it's just not true. This is a evil world, with evil people in it."

Lyons said he feels great comfort in knowing the community will not rest until the person responsible for Mya's murder is caught.

"I see and feel love for my daughter, and more importantly than that, I see and feel love for the children of Chicago," Lyons said.

Many of his friends and neighbors said Mya was like a child of their own and they are also devastated by her violent murder.

Neighbor Lakemya Horn said, "It makes no sense to go to that extreme. She was just a little girl; a sweet little girl."

Family friend Constance Morgan said, "Nobody has the right to do that. Nobody has the right to take a child's life, a person's life period, but a child, not like that."

The alley where Mya was found is bound by raised Metra tracks on one side and garages on the other. The block has an unconventional layout, and many do not know that the dead-end street turns into an alley.

"I was at one end of the block," said neighbor Nakia Akins. "You could hear her screaming from the other end."

While police scoured the area, Mya's famly took time to send a message.

"I believe it does take a village to raise a child," Richard Lyons said. "I follow that philosophy. And I believe it also takes a village to find a criminal. So please, help find my baby's criminal."

Mya's grandfather, Orlando Barnes, said he hoped the assailant who took her life would be apprehended quickly.

"I'd like for the person to come forward, and I'm hoping and praying that they catch this person or persons that did this," Barnes said. "She didn't deserve this. She did not deserve this."

Family members talked to investigators on the scene. Police apparently found evidence that the body had been moved, so they sealed off half the block.

Mya's father, who was reached by telephone at his home Tuesday morning, said he was horrified by his daughter's murder.

"It was very difficult as I spent the night at the police station,'' he said, sobbing. "They treated me nicely but it was too long to be there,'' Richard Lyons said at 8:20 a.m.

"I just got home. I want the world to know: love your kids while you have them because you don't know how long you're going to have them. I loved my baby,'' Richard Lyons said.

"I have my memories of my vacations with her. I have the memories of the trips I took her on. They can never take that away from me,'' said Lyons, who said they had just taken a "huge road trip.''

"We got in the car and we drove to Atlanta, we drove to New Jersey and we drove to Florida and we drove to Pennsylvania, all in one trip. It was so much fun. I asked her what part of the trip she liked most and I just knew it would be Disney World. She didn't -- she said, 'I had so much fun everywhere I went and everywhere we stopped.' She couldn't even make up her own mind which one she liked the best. I just knew it was going to be Disney World but it wasn't, it was everything. That made me feel so good,'' said Lyons.

The trip was taken with Lyons' wife and Mya's older brother and younger sister. Mya was getting ready for her birthday, he said.

"It's in November. She was going to be 10. She was going into her double digits,'' according to Lyons, who said she was "so fun loving, but she was apprehensive and very intelligent. Oh my God, you should hear, my wife would purposely sit her down just to hear her talk,'' Lyons said, sobbing.

Richard Lyons' aunt, Portia Lyons, who was also reached by telephone Tuesday morning said the child did not live with her father at the Gilbert Court address but was staying with her father for the summer.

"It's very awful,'' according to Portia Lyons, who said she spent the Fourth of July holiday with her.

"We're trying to get through it one day at a time,'' Portia Lyons said.

Mya's 13-year-old female cousin, Jameecia Lyons, who lives in Romeoville, said Mya lives in Addison with her mother.

"She likes to draw a lot and ride bikes,'' said to Jameecia Lyons, who said they rode their bikes and watched movies like College Road trip over the weekend. "She had a good sense of humor."

Jameecia Lyons also said Mya was getting already getting excited about her upcoming birthday in November, when she was hoping to go shopping with her family.

"She wanted a new bike for her birthday,'' Jameecia Lyons said.

Jameecia's brother, 14-year-old Deqwan Lyons, who lives on the North Side of Chicago, affectionately described Mya's personality as "goofy."

"She was just like me, I'm a goofy person and I like to do a lot of things," according to Deqwan Lyons, who said the last thing he did with his cousin was play basketball.

"She was pretty good [at basketball] for her age,'' Deqwan Lyons said.

Neighbors are very concerned about their safety. Police say they have no suspects in mind.

"It's very early – we just don't have a lot of answers," said Chief of Detectives Thomas Byrne. That's why we're seeking the community's help. Did they see anybody suspicious back in the alley? Are there any suspicious people that hang in the area? Is there anybody that they know they feel like they really haven't been acting in their right frame of mind recently? We'll take any tip at all."

Calumet Area police detectives are investigating.

A prayer vigil is scheduled in Mya's memory for 11 a.m. Wednesday in the neighborhood.

Tuesday evening, community members including Mya's relatives and Fr. Michael Pfleger, held an anti-violence march through the area.

A registered sex offender lives on Richard Lyons' block. About that, police only said everything remains under investigation.

CBS 2's Mai Martinez, Kristyn Hartman and Joanie Lum and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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