Tyler’s body was dumped along a dark Seattle street in 1988. A suspected gang killing, his case has remained unsolved for nearly 40 years.
SEATTLE — Nearly four decades after the killing of Christopher “Major” Tyler, his family is still searching for answers.
On a cold February morning in 1988, the body of Tyler, 21, was found along Mountain View Drive South in Seattle’s Beacon Hill Neighborhood. He had been shot. Authorities say his body had been left on the roadside.
The case, which received limited attention at the time, remains unsolved.
When KING 5’s Unsolved Northwest team started researching the case, little to no information could be found.
For his sisters, however, the loss has never faded.
“He was very kind, he was very loving, he was very giving,” said Laverne Mitchell, his sister. “He just had a sweet, kind heart, very sweet disposition about himself. He was just just a lover, just a lover. He was a very loving person.”
Tyler, known as “Major,” grew up in a close family, his sisters said.
“We did a lot together. We played together, crack jokes together, did a lot of things together,” Mitchell said. “So my family is, we’re all close. We’re all close.”
Kim Tyson, another sister, said he had a beautiful heart.
“He was just a warm soul. A warm soul,” Tyson said.
In the years before his death, Tyler became involved in Seattle’s crack cocaine scene, which had grown in the late 1980s. His family believes that may have contributed to what happened.
Tyson remembers the moment she learned her brother had been killed. A phone call came through from detectives.
“They said, you know, we have bad news. Chris was a victim of homicide,” she said. “I said, What are you my mind? I was like, What are you saying? I was 19 at the time. What are you saying? They said he was murdered. And I was just like, in shock. I’m like, and he was dumped on the street. And I just, I’ll never forget that. I will never, ever forget that day.”
The impact on the family was immediate and lasting.
“It was traumatizing, you know, my little brother being killed out in the streets, and no answer to a note like you said, No one knocked on our door, no one came and said anything. We just got a call,” Ms. Mitchell said.
Over time, the family heard fragments of what might have happened.
“What we heard was that he possibly sold somebody some bad drugs, and I heard that it was members of the Crips who did it,” Tyson said. “Yeah, that’s what I heard. And that, you know, he was in a car with someone, and I don’t know if they lured him in the car, or he got in the car willingly. I have no idea. I do know that he was in a car. He was shot in the car, and then he was dumped.”
At the time, reporting by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer indicated that police believed the killing may have been gang-related. Authorities increased anti-gang patrols in areas experiencing drug-related violence.
Still, no arrests were made.
“It’s been too many years,” Tyson said. “It’s probably like sitting up in a box forgotten, you know, but his life mattered. He has a family that loves him, and I use love because we will always love him. And so, you know, we have a right to know what happened to him and what what’s going on with the investigation. Is it just completely stalled in a box, closed and put away? Are they still trying to figure out what happened and who’s responsible?”
A spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department said the case remains open and active but declined to share additional details.
The family continues to hope for answers.
“My hope is for this case To be looked into a little bit more. You know, to at least try and solve it,” Mitchell said.
They also believe someone knows what happened.
“What’s in the dark, will come to the light. And I believe somebody knows something, somebody seen something, somebody knows something,” Ms. Mitchell said. “We are hurting. Behind my brother, we are hurting. He is a loved one, you know. He is a precious jewel to us, you know.”
For his family, the message remains simple and urgent.
“I’ll say it again. His life mattered,” Ms. Tyson said. “He has family that loves him, and he deserve the justice of knowing that one Seattle police is doing what they should do as a police agency to find out who murdered my brother and give value back to his life, absolutely.”
If you know anything about this crime, call Seattle Police detectives at (206) 684-5550. You can remain anonymous.
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