Michelle Lyons

Michelle Lyons was born in 1975 {{efn|Javier Cruz was executed in 1998,{{Cite web |title=Addict executed for killing 2 elderly men |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-10-02-9810020233-story.html |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune|date=October 2, 1998 }}

and Lyons was 22 when she witnessed his execution, which means that she was born in 1975 or 1976.}} in Galveston, Texas,{{Cite web |last=Colloff |first=Pamela |date=August 12, 2014 |title=The Witness |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-witness/ |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=Texas Monthly |language=en}} making her a BOI ('Born on Island') resident. Her father began his career as a reporter at The Daily News and met her mother while she was working as a records clerk at the Galveston Police Department. Lyons was raised in Galveston, attending the island's famous Ball High School until 1992, when her family relocated to Southern Illinois after her sophomore year for her father's job. She attended Benton Consolidated High School in Benton, Illinois, graduating in 1994 and then moving back to Texas to attend Texas A&M University in College Station where she would earn a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1997.

Lyons began her journalism career at the age of 16, working for The Benton Evening News as a photographer and a darkroom assistant, developing film and printing photos for each of the newspaper's six-day daily editions. Once in college, she became a staff writer for Texas A&M's student newspaper, The Battalion, before joining the staff of The Bryan-College Station Eagle, first as a part-time reporter covering spot news and obituaries and then later, as a full-time police reporter and then education reporter. In April 1998, Lyons joined The Huntsville Item as one of three full-time reporters, originally covering The City of Huntsville, Sam Houston State University, feature stories and breaking news.{{Cite web |title=Woman Who Witnessed Around 300 Executions Reveals The Inmates' Last Words That Have Stayed With Her |url=https://www.ladbible.com/news/interesting-execution-witness-reveals-the-inmates-last-words-that-stayed-with-her-20210407 |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=LADbible |language=en}} In January 2000, she moved to covering the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as the prison beat reporter, at a time when the Item had one of five witness spots to cover every execution carried out in the State of Texas. In interviews, Lyons has stated that while she knew the job would entail witnessing some executions, many years had seen fewer than 10 carried out in a single year, so she did not predict her first year covering the prison system would coincide with Texas' record-breaking 40 executions carried out in 2000,{{Cite web |last=Lozano • • |first=Juan A. |date=2020-12-17 |title=Texas Had Fewest Executions Since 1996 Due to Pandemic |url=https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-had-fewest-executions-since-1996-due-to-pandemic/2507906/?os=wtmbTQtAJk9ya&ref=app |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth |language=en-US}} of which Lyons witnessed 38.

File:HuntsvilleUnitHuntsvilleTX.jpg, in 2007]]

Lyons first began regularly covering Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) executions at the Huntsville Unit in January 2000, although she witnessed her first execution in 1998 while filling in for a colleague. In her memoir, "Death Row: The Final Minutes," Lyons writes{{Cite news |last=Blakinger |first=Keri |date=May 3, 2018 |title=Former Texas prison spokeswoman releases tell-all book after watching 280 executions |url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Former-Texas-prison-spokeswoman-releases-tell-all-12884772.php |work=Houston Chronicle}}{{Cite book |last=Lyons |first=Michelle |title=Death Row: The Final Minutes |date=May 18, 2018 |publisher=Blink Publishing |isbn=978-1-91160-062-6 |edition=1st |location=United Kingdom |publication-date=May 2018}} that in the early years of covering executions, she was skilled at compartmentalizing her emotions and staying neutral during her execution coverage although on occasions, she found herself empathizing more with particular individuals.

Lyons was 22 when she began regularly covering executions and she was the prison reporter during Texas' record-breaking 40 executions in 2000, during which then-Texas Governor George W. Bush was running for president, meaning international and national media were frequently in Huntsville and she received dozens of media requests from all over the world during that time, all wanting to interview the 'young woman who watched executions,'{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.hbo.com/god-save-texas |title=God Save Texas {{!}} Official Website for the HBO Series {{!}} HBO.com |language=en-us |access-date=2024-10-11 |via=www.hbo.com}} as well as an influx of hate mail and angry phone calls, some threatening and accusing her of appearing "cold," in interviews{{Cite web |title=Execution witness who has watched 280 men die |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/execution-witness-michelle-lyons-who-has-watched-280-men-die/GCRHNNWDD64TSAQGFY7AHHFOWA/ |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=The New Zealand Herald |date=May 12, 2018 |language=en-NZ}}{{Cite web |title=CNN.com – Transcripts |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cp/date/2002-05-25/segment/00 |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=transcripts.cnn.com}} because she did not take a stance on the death penalty.

Lyons became a public information officer for TDCJ in November 2001 after she was approached by PIOs Larry Fitzgerald and Larry Todd about the position. She was promoted to Director of Public Information in 2006, becoming the first female PIO Director and the youngest member of the prison's executive staff at the age of 30. In 2009, the Houston Press named her "Best Flack," writing that while "some flacks live to circle the wagons and block the free flow of public information," Lyons worked to "help reporters get to the truth and heart of a story."

She was abruptly demoted in 2012 over allegations that she kept inaccurate time sheets.{{Cite web |title=Texas Information Officer's Termination Lawsuit Dismissed {{!}} Prison Legal News |url=https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2015/nov/18/texas-information-officers-termination-lawsuit-dismissed/ |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=www.prisonlegalnews.org}} She resigned entirely from the TDCJ{{Cite web |date=May 31, 2015 |title=Watchdog: Texas prison system isn't too keen on openness |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2015/05/31/watchdog-texas-prison-system-isnt-too-keen-on-openness/ |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=Dallas News |language=en}} in May 2012 after two additional false complaints were lodged at her, the last of which was 'failure to obey an order,' and filed suit, alleging sex discrimination{{Cite web |last=Reporter |first=Cody StarkStaff |date=2012-06-08 |title=Former director brings federal suit against TDCJ |url=https://www.itemonline.com/news/local_news/former-director-brings-federal-suit-against-tdcj/article_7255f15a-0018-5208-a739-add2bfb8d325.html |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Itemonline.com |language=en}} and specifically, that she was being required to keep her time in a way that was wholly different from both her current and former male coworkers, as well as against the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.{{Cite web |last=Stark |first=Cody |title=Former director brings federal suit against TDCJ |url=https://www.itemonline.com/news/local_news/former-director-brings-federal-suit-against-tdcj/article_7255f15a-0018-5208-a739-add2bfb8d325.html |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=Itemonline.com |date=June 8, 2012 |language=en}} The lawsuit was dismissed on summary judgment by U.S. District Judge David Hittner in 2013, with Lyons and her lawyers Nasim Ahmad and Delana Cline filing an appeal before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

In September 2014, the Fifth Circuit ruled in Lyons' favor,{{Cite web |title=Michelle Lyons v. TDCJ, No. 13-20543 (5th Cir. 2014) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca5/13-20543/13-20543-2014-09-09.html |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Justia Law |language=en}} finding that both the district court and TDCJ neglected to mention a key witness affidavit in briefs to the appellate court. TDCJ went to a settlement conference with Lyons shortly after the case was remanded back to the lower court,{{Cite web |title=GovInfo |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCOURTS-ca5-13-20543/context |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=www.govinfo.gov |language=en}} and the case was settled in November 2014 in Lyons' favor.{{Cite web |last=Gritsforbreakfast |date=2015-02-12 |title=Grits for Breakfast: TDCJ settled discrimination suit by former flak, Michelle Lyons |url=https://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2015/02/tdcj-settled-discrimination-suit-by.html |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Grits for Breakfast}}

During her 2001-2012 tenure with the prison system, Michelle Lyons witnessed more than 280 executions{{Cite news |date=May 6, 2018 |title=The woman who watched 300 executions in Texas |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43995866 |access-date=December 16, 2022 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Blakinger |first=Keri |date=May 3, 2018 |title=Former Texas prison spokeswoman releases tell-all book after watching 280 executions |url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Former-Texas-prison-spokeswoman-releases-tell-all-12884772.php |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=Chron |language=en-US}} by lethal injection, including high-profile cases such as Napoleon Beazley, Betty Lou Beets, and Shaka Sankofa (nee Gary Graham). Lyons witnessed the executions of two women.

As of 2012, Lyons works in the marketing department of a global law firm.{{Cite web |last=Mathis-Lilley |first=Ben |date=August 27, 2014 |title=Texas Monthly Profiles a Woman Who Has Seen 278 Executions |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2014/08/michelle-lyons-witness-to-278-executions.html |access-date=December 17, 2022 |website=Slate Magazine |language=en}}

Lyons co-authored a memoir with her former mentor Larry Fitzgerald, titled Death Row: The Final Minutes, published in the United Kingdom by Blink Publishing in 2018.{{Cite web |last=Barajas |first=Michael |date=January 25, 2021 |title='Let the Lord Sort Them' Explores the Rise, Fall, and Lingering Trauma of the Death Penalty in Texas |url=https://www.texasobserver.org/let-the-lord-sort-them-explores-the-rise-fall-and-lingering-trauma-of-the-death-penalty-in-texas/ |access-date=December 17, 2022 |website=The Texas Observer |language=en-US}} The book was released under an alternate title in the United States, and was later released in four other countries including China, Russia, the Czech Republic and Poland.

Fitzgerald died{{Cite web |title=C. Fitzgerald Obituary 2017 |url=https://www.allfaithsonline.com/obituaries/c-fitzgerald |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=All Faiths Funeral Services |language=en}} on June 12, 2017 after a long illness prior to publication.

Lyons is married. She has one child, born in 2005. Her step-daughter from a previous marriage was murdered during a robbery{{Cite web |title=Man arrested, charged in murder of 17-year-old Texas girl in Marina del Rey |url=https://abc7.com/marina-del-rey-shooting-glencoe-avenue-shopping-center-houston-teenage/1166663/ |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=ABC7 Los Angeles |language=en}} in California in 2016.

Lyons does not take a position on the death penalty but maintains that it is a personal view, and one that she feels is dependent on the specific facts of an individual case. In her book and almost all of her interviews, she has been open about the fact that witnessing so many executions began to take an emotional toll on her, particularly after she became a mother, because she found herself more impacted witnessing the emotions around her – the loss of the victim's family, and the strength displayed by the inmates' mothers while witnessing the deaths of their sons. Feeling there were no winners, and bearing witness to all of it had tremendous weight, Lyons wrote.

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Category:1970s births

Category:Year of birth uncertain

Category:Living people

Category:Writers from Galveston, Texas

Category:Texas A&M University alumni

Category:Journalists from Texas

Category:21st-century American journalists

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:American crime reporters