Texas family speaks directly to Muhlaysia Booker's killer during victim statement portion of trial

Three-and-a-half years of pent-up rage poured from Stephanie Houston on a Dallas criminal court witness stand Thursday morning.

Part of that rage fueled by the fact her transgender daughter’s killer does not face the death penalty … at least not yet.

“Damn you,” Houston yelled at Kendrell Lavar Lyles during the victim impact statement portion of his murder trial. “Nothing but hell and death is going to come to you!”

In May 2019, Muhlaysia 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 earlier, Booker had been 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.

FULL STORY: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-transgender-womans-mother-rips-into-murderer-in-court-room/287-bfb7f5e5-87cf-4233-996a-5d3f070a5d55

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