Man Shot to Death by Girlfriend After Bringing McDonald’s Home for Her and Her Kids

Alexandria Griste, 31, had initially been charged with first-degree murder after police in Oxford, Mississippi responded to her 9-1-1 call on June 8, 2022.

In a news release shared to its Facebook page at the time, the Oxford MS Police Department They arrived at approximately 12:15 a.m. and found Corey Lyles suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, but Griste was able to avoid a first-degree murder conviction. After three hours of deliberation, the jury found her guilty of the lesser charge of imperfect self-defense manslaughter.

As detailed by Law&Crime, imperfect self-defense defines a situation where the defendant’s actions in killing their victim are not justifiable, but neither do they show the requisite malice for murder.

On Tuesday, Griste was sentenced to 20 years in the state penitentiary following her conviction the previous Friday, as covered by The Oxford Eagle. It is the maximum sentence allowed for that conviction.

The outlet reports she did not take the stand in her defense, but did make a statement at her sentencing. She told the judge she did not intend to hurt anyone, “but I was protecting myself and my children.”

In court, testimony revealed that Griste and Lyles had begun arguing via text message on the evening of July 7, 2022, purportedly because he’d left the house without telling her.

Text messages revealed in court showed the combative couple discussing Lyles picking up McDonald’s for the family before they began to argue. At one point, she sent him a text that said he’d be “dead” if he returned to the home they shared, per The Oxford Eagle.

She reportedly retrieved a 9mm gun from her sock drawer and waited for him to pull up at the house, where the argument continued. Testimony stated that her intent was only to warn him off so he would leave.

Speaking with investigators, per The Oxford Eagle, Griste purportedly stated that Lyles was angry and moving toward her aggressively, which is why she fired three warning shots.

The defendant described Lyles as an MMA fighter, explaining, per the paper, that he had hurt her before. No evidence of past abuse was presented during the trial.

She said that when he continued coming at her, she fired through a window in their door at him. Police reported finding Lyles’ body several feet from the door.

Her defense attorney, Steve Farese, said that there was no evidence to prove she was not in fear for her life at that moment, emphasizing that she’d been cooperative with law enforcement throughout, and even had been the one to place the 9-1-1 call.

“What kind of a world is it if a woman can’t protect herself and her children?” Farese said in his closing, per The Eagle.

The prosecution countered this narrative, with District Attorney Ben Creekmore stating in court, per the newspaper, that there was no indication Lyles had arrived at the house with intention to harm anyone as he’d come with food for her and her children, and remained in his vehicle after pulling up for several minutes.

They also described the couple’s year-long relationship as volatile, per Jackson’s WJTV, adding that there were witnesses had seen them arguing the previous day at a softball game.

According to Creekmore, it was Griste who came out with her gun and “stirred things up.” He told the jury, “It went from a heart in a text message to a bullet in his heart.”