Knife found near alley where Mya Lyons found stabbed

Chicago police are testing blood samples from a knife found by a cleaning crew Monday morning near the area where Mya Lyons was found brutally stabbed on July 14. Police are looking to see if the knife was used to kill the 9-year-old.

Chicago police are testing blood samples from a knife found by a cleaning crew Monday morning near the area where Mya Lyons was found brutally stabbed on July 14.

Police are looking to see if the knife was used to kill the 9-year-old.

While clearing weeds in a vacant lot near the alley, a crew member found a kitchen-style knife with a six-inch blade that appeared to have blood on it.

“A knife is being processed as evidence,” said Monique Bond, spokesperson for the police department.

Police also collected DNA samples from relatives and a neighbor shortly after the girl’s death.

Mya, who had been visiting her father for the summer, was fatally stabbed in the neck and abdomen July 14. Her father, Richard, found her lying in an alley about a half block from his home in the 8400 block of South Gilbert Court.

The alley was poorly lit and overgrown with trees and weeds. The day after she was found, city crews cut the trees and brush in the alley and on the block.

“We know that she struggled because her hands were in really bad shape,” said Karrisell Lyons, Mya’s cousin.

The family thought closure was near when the police questioned a “person of interest” over the weekend, but their hopes were dashed when the person was released and no charges were filed.

That person collected scrap metal in that Auburn-Gresham neighborhood and allegedly admitted to being in the alley where Mya was found.

The family is waiting to see what the test results from the knife reveal and hopes that someone is not trying to hamper the investigation.

Rewards have reached $6,500 for information leading to the arrest of Mya’s killer. She was laid to rest last Saturday.

Kathy Chaney can be reached at kchaney@chicagodefender.com.

To see Lyons family photos, click here.

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