| Centreville woman beaten to death Tiny 91-year-old found in her home By Carolyn P. Smith -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CENTREVILLE -- Centreville Police on Tuesday called the beating death of a 91-year-old woman a ``vicious homicide.'' Carrie Tyler lived alone at 307 N. 82nd St. She was friendly, but she kept to herself, family, friends and neighbors said. They said they don't know why anyone would do something so violent to the tiny, 90-pound woman. Centreville Police Chief Curtis McCall released the following details of the homicide: Tyler's niece, Carolyn Fiorino, a St. Louis resident who spoke to Tyler every other day, became concerned Monday when she called her aunt and could not make contact with her. She called the Centreville Police Department about 7:30 p.m. Monday and police officers went to the home and were unable to get in. They returned to the station where the officers called Fiorino, who came to the house and let them into the home where they found Tyler's body on the floor about 8:30 p.m. She had been severely beaten. McCall said there was trauma to several parts of her body and he believed robbery was the motive for the killing. Her house was ransacked and several items were missing. There were no signs of forced entry. She may have known her attackers, McCall said. Tyler's nephew-in-law, Joe Fiorino, said the thieves took Tyler's checkbook and a driver's license. ``A television was found just outside the door (on side of house). She didn't have anything,'' he said. McCall would not say whether any weapons were used. He said police officers are looking for more than one suspect and have some good leads in the case. McCall said the suspects are from the Centreville area. He also said a driver's license listed Tyler as 88, but family members said she was born April 8, 1909, and would turn 92 in April. Joe Fiorino said Tyler lived in her home on 82nd Street for 42 years and about a year ago somebody tried to break in a side window and she hit him on the hand with a fireplace poker and the person left. Joe Fiorino said Tyler was a former truck driver. She was born in Kentucky and lived in southeast Missouri before moving to Centreville. Tyler had three husbands and three children who preceded her in death. ``She has a 30-year-old grandson in Ohio,'' Joe Fiorino said. ``She was a very good, healthy, mentally sharp woman. She still cut her own grass. My wife fixed and planned her meals for her and did all her shopping. We tried to get her to move, but I guess this was her comfort zone. She did not want to leave her home.'' He said she was not the kind of person who let people into her home. ``She wouldn't let my wife in if she didn't have her key,'' Joe Fiorino said. The two residents in the house next door to Tyler's said whoever killed her did it quietly. ``We were right here at home and we didn't hear anything,'' said Naceine Chatman. ``I hate it. She didn't bother nobody. She was nothing but nice. She stayed to herself, but she would talk to me whenever she came out to cut her grass. I will miss her. That was Miss Tyler. She was my neighbor. It won't be the same without Miss Tyler in that house,'' said 63-year-old Elizabeth Lawrence. McCall said another woman, 92-year-old Florence Krieg, who lived in the same neighborhood, was beaten and bound with duct tape in 1999. The three women responsible for abusing Krieg and stealing more than $60,000 from her were put on probation. McCall said the two cases are not related. Krieg now resides in a rest home and suffers from senile dementia and trauma from the attack. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Published Wednesday, March 28, 2001, in the Belleville News-Democrat Suspect in killing commits suicide Man confessed beating to woman By Carolyn P. Smith ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CENTREVILLE -- The man accused by Centreville Police of killing 91-year-old Carrie Tyler fatally shot himself in the chest with a revolver just hours after he killed his neighbor. Timothy Franklin, 38, committed suicide at his girlfriend's apartment at the Mansion House Hotel at 300 N. Fourth St. in St. Louis about 4 a.m. Monday. Centreville Police Chief Curtis McCall said the killing of Tyler was the worst he's seen of an elderly person in his 18 years in law enforcement. ``He beat her badly in the face and stomped her in the chest area, breaking two of her ribs, and he fractured her skull,'' McCall said. Franklin also broke Tyler's nose, McCall said. At a news conference Wednesday, McCall gave these details of the homicide-suicide: ``At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, I received a phone call from the St. Louis homicide division,'' McCall said. ``They told me that they had received a 911 call Monday about 4:50 a.m. that a man had been shot. A female said that her boyfriend had come to her apartment about 6 p.m. very distraught and had told her that he had done harm to someone on the Illinois side of the river and had possibly killed the person.'' McCall said the woman said her boyfriend wanted to kill himself, but she talked him out of it. But at 4 a.m., Franklin went into the living room and fatally shot himself. McCall did not release the girlfriend's name. He said Franklin brought with him to his girlfriend's apartment Tyler's driver's license, medical and Social Security card and her checkbook. He had written one of Tyler's checks out to himself for $500 and had forged the dead woman's signature to it. McCall said Franklin's girlfriend was shocked but cooperative. The blue-and-white trailer Franklin lived in Centreville is about 70 feet from Tyler's three-bedroom ranch house at 307 N. 82nd St. McCall said Franklin had lived in the trailer for three or four years and that he had done yard work and washed Tyler's car for her in the past. McCall said Tyler's niece, Carolyn Fiorino of St. Louis, called the police station Monday after she was unable to reach her aunt and asked the police to check the residence. Tyler and Fiorino spoke every other day, and she found it strange that her aunt did not answer the phone. When police went to the house, no one answered the door. They returned to the station and called Fiorino. She came to Centreville and let the police into the house, where they found Tyler's body in the rear of the residence in a utility room. Franklin had a lengthy criminal record, McCall said. ``He had several burglaries, criminal trespass to property, theft, resisting a police officer and a host of misdemeanors,'' said McCall. When police told Tyler's niece about Franklin's involvement in the case, ``she cried and was very happy that we found out who was responsible for the murder,'' McCall said. ``She thanked us for the hard work we did.'' Fiorino could not be reached Wednesday for comment. But on Tuesday, Joe Fiorino, Tyler's nephew-in-law, said the family had tried to get her to move from Centreville, but she was comfortable in her home. St. Louis Police did not make the connection between the suicide and the homicide in Centreville until some officers saw media reports Tuesday about the homicide. Neighbors in the area where Tyler lived said they often saw Franklin drunk. ``He would disrespect women in their face and everything,'' said Naceine Chatman. Chatman saw Franklin on Sunday, but he said he had no idea that Franklin had killed Tyler. ``It was Monday when I saw the police tape around the house. I thought something happened at the house that day. Miss Tyler was a nice lady. She didn't bother nobody,'' said Chatman. Franklin worked at a steel factory in Cahokia, McCall said. Franklin's family members said they did not want to comment. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Published Thursday, March 29, 2001, in the Belleville News-Democrat |
 |
 |
 |
| Grandma in the 1930s |
| Grandma, the Truck Driver |
| Uncle Mike's Wedding (1979) From Left to Right: Dad, Mom, Gina & Mike, Grandma, her sister (Rosa), and me. (click to enlarge) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| October 2000 |
| January 2001 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| In Loving Memory of Carrie Tyler April 8, 1909 - March 26, 2001 "When I Must Leave You" When I must leave you for a little while Please do not grieve and shed wild tears And hug your sorrow through the years But start out bravely with a gallant smile; And for my sake and in my name live on and do all things the same. Feed not your loneliness on empty days, But fill each waking hour in useful ways, Reach out your hand in comfort and in cheer and I in turn will comfort you and hold you near; And never, never be afraid to die, for I am waiting for you in the sky! Prayer For Those Living Alone I live alone, dear Lord, Stay by my side In all my daily needs, Be Thou my guide. Grant me good health, For that I pray To carry on my work From day to day. Keep pure my thoughts, My every deed, Let me be kind and unselfish In my neighbor's needs. Spare me from fire, from floods Malicious tongues, From thieves, From fear, and evil ones. If sickness or an accident Befall me. Then humbly, Lord, I pray, hear Thou my call. And when I am feeling low Or in despair, Lift up my heart And help me in my prayer. I live alone, dear Lord, Yet have no fear Because I feel Your presence ever near. |
 |
 |