Father of Slaughtered Girl Sues Chicago Metra

July 15, 2009

When the body of 9-year-old Mya Lyons was found last summer in an alley near her father’s Chicago South Side home, he filed a wrongful death suit against Metra in the Cook County Circuit Court. The girl was stabbed in an area that was the property of the rail system on the 8400 block of South Gilbert Court.

The property was literally overgrown with weeds, which made the girl’s body difficult to spot. It also made the property "ripe for criminal activity," according to the suit filed by the family’s injury lawyers. The father says that the property should have been better maintained by Metra and if it had been, his daughter might not have been the victim of such a violent crime. He is seeking damages in excess of $100,000 for her death.

The girl’s killer has not yet been found, but her family says that the attack would not have happened if the Metra had complied with the law and had cut back the 8 to 10 foot tall weeds, obstructing any view of the alley.