Guilty verdict reached for gunman in 2015 murder case

JACKSON, Tenn. — After almost eight hours of deliberations, a Madison County jury convicts 21-year-old Christopher Lyles of murder.

Friday morning, the jury returned to the courtroom to view police surveillance footage of the accused killers and the men they robbed at gunpoint walk through Lincoln Courts, hours before making a final decision on Lyles’ involvement in the 2015 murder of Beau Reid.

After nearly eight hours in the deliberation room, the jury reached a verdict.

Lyles was found guilty of felony murder, second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and three counts of attempted aggravated robbery.

It’s a verdict Beau Reid’s father says he’s been waiting for.

“I just wanted justice served the right way, the right thing to do,” Reid’s father, Saint Murphy Jr., said. “If you wrong for killing, you know you deserve what you get.”

Murphy says he and his family are happy with the guilty verdict and are glad the wait for justice is almost over.

“To the end of it now, and we got this other guy going to be on trial next,” Murphy said. “So after that we really get some ease.”

Although Lyles will remain behind bars, Murphy says it still won’t replace his son.

“I’m going to miss him — I still miss him,” Murphy said. “Think about him every day, but now I feel a lot better.”

Lyles is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. Dec. 12. His co-defendant, Phillip Williams Jr., is expected to appear in court Nov. 21.