Girl Found Stabbed To Death

CHICAGO (STNG/CBS 2/WBBM) - A 9-year-old girl was found sexually assaulted and stabbed to death early Tuesday in an Auburn-Gresham neighborhood alley.

Authorities said the body of Mya Lyons was found in an alley behind 8407 S. Gilbert Ct. early Tuesday morning.  The Medical Examiner says Lyons died of multiple injuries and that she was the victim of assault.  Her death has been ruled a homicide.

“The detective said it was a heinous crime. He said a lot of evidence was left behind,” said Karen Brown, a great-aunt of Mya Lyons.

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. The mother had come by to pick Mya up yesterday but she asked to stay with her father longer, Brown said.

Neighbors said Mya., was playing at a friend's house until around 11 p.m. Monday, and that neighbor watched the little girl walk three doors down to her home.

The girl went to a party on the block later that night with her older stepbrother and relatives at some point realized she was missing.

“Everybody was like, where is she,” said her father. “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, said Lyons, breaking down.

WBBM's Mike Krauser reports Mya's throat was slashed. Relatives said she was sexually assaulted. She was pronounced dead at Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center at 2:10 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

The alley where she was found is bound by raised Metra tracks on one side and garages on the other. Gilbert Ct. is a dead end street. (Photo: aerial view of Gilbert Court.)

“It was very difficult as I spent the night at the police station,’’ according to Richard Lyons who was sobbing uncontrollably. “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.

Richard Lyons said he and other family members discovered she was missing at one point during the night.

Relatives said Mya's father discovered the little girl was not in the house around midnight Monday night, prompting him to wake up the neighbor at the house the girl had been visiting. Mya's father drove around in his van, and found his daughter's body in the alley.

“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,’’ according to 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. Maya said she spent last weekend at Jameecia's home.

“She likes to draw a lot and ride bikes,’’ according 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,’’ according to Jameecia, who 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.