IN LOVING MEMORY OF MICHAEL LYONS (SEPTEMBER 28, 1987 TO MAY 17, 1996)

            We, the comrades of Unit 1012, will honor and remember 8-year-old Michael Lyons who died on May 17, 1996. His killer, Robert Boyd Rhoades, a serial killer, is currently among the 700+ on California’s Death Row.

            We, the comrades of Unit 1012: The VFFDP, will make him one of the will be one of The 82 murdered children of Unit 1012, where we will not forget him. Let us remember how he lived and not how he died. We will always support his family members.

Michael Lyons (PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=601742139849382&set=pb.601603449863251.-2207520000.1380190203.&type=3&theater)

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=89618040

Michael Allen "Mikey" Lyons

Birth:	Sep. 28, 1987 California, USA
Death:	May 17, 1996 Yuba City Sutter County California, USA

Adorable and beloved 8 year old Mikey was full of life, dreams, and adventures like any rambunctious 3rd grader would be. He left home wearing his black Batman T-Shirt one morning and never returned.

Mikey was abducted as he walked home from school. It is believed that Mikey was lured under the ruse of meeting his parents down at the river for some afternoon fishing. If true, one can imagine how excited he was when jumping into his killer's vehicle.

DNA from Mikey's case helped solve the case of 18 year old, Julie Connell, of Hayward, CA, who was murdered by his kidnapper over 20 years earlier.

This dear little fellow is survived by those whose life he so vibrantly enriched including his mother, Sandy Friend, step-father, Billy Friend, aunt, Tina Lyons Icenbice and grandmother, Linda Willis among others.

He is greatly missed and thought of everyday by not only his family members and friends, but by all those who were so deeply touched by the tragic
loss of him.

The Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent, one from the other. - Genesis 31:49
.

Inscription:
"On the day I was born the animals roamed the planet. The lion wrestled with the cheetah. The cheetah ran fast." by Michael.

Burial:
Sierra View Memorial Park

Olivehurst
Yuba County

California, USA

Created by: A Derifield

Record added: May 05, 2012

Find A Grave Memorial# 89618040

Inscription - "On the day I was born the animals roamed the planet. The lion wrestled with the cheetah. The cheetah ran fast." by Michael. [PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=89618040&PIpi=98422532]

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/14/4907750/viewpoints-should-we-ok-prop-34.html

Viewpoints: Should we OK Prop. 34 to end executions? No

By Sandy Friend

Special to The Bee

Published: Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 5E

Last Modified: Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012 - 9:39 am

Michael Lyons was my 8-year-old angel of a son. He was sweet, loved his family and had a smile that would melt a glacier. When I think of that smile, it eases my heart for only so long because I will grieve over his loss for the rest of my life.

Michael died an unimaginable death. He endured 70 purposeful, nonlethal stab wounds to his little body. He was sodomized viciously. After more than 10 hours of torture, Michael's throat was slit, his body dumped into a river.

Every night I pray that no mother should be forced to experience my lifetime of anguish since Michael was murdered. Though I had to hear the grisly description again of how a vicious repeat offender tortured and murdered my son in court, I was relieved that justice was served when a jury found Michael's killer guilty and sentenced him to death.

While the emotional wounds never heal, there are better days than others.

But my healing has been ripped apart by the prospect that Michael's killer won't see justice if Proposition 34 passes this November, which would repeal California's voter-imposed system of capital punishment.

It is beyond insulting that liberal special interest groups, including the ACLU, believe my son's killer deserves leniency and compassion. Proponents of Proposition 34, including The Bee's editorial board, patronize victims' families by telling us they have empathy for our suffering while hiding behind specious claims to justify giving the most vicious criminals a lifetime of health care and housing, benefits that too many middle-class families cannot afford.

According to the California District Attorneys Association, the death penalty is only given to less than 2 percent of all murderers, and reserved for only the most violent and heinous killers.

There are several precautions that prosecutors must consider before seeking the death penalty. The crime must qualify – it must be a first-degree murder with special circumstances, such as murder during rape, sodomy or other sexual assault; murder of a child during an act of sexual abuse; or murder of a peace officer among other shocking crimes. A district attorney must weigh the facts and circumstances of the crime. The jury must determine if the death penalty is appropriate. The death sentence must be upheld by a trial judge. Finally, the appellate courts and ultimately the state Supreme Court must review the verdict to ensure that it was fair, and the defendant received due process of law.

There are 729 men on death row. These killers are the worst of the worst.

They are cop killers, serial killers and child rape killers: 135 cases involved sexual assault and murder; 126 cases involved torture before murder; 220 victims were children; 44 victims were peace officers. These killers earned the death sentence given to them by juries across this state. The families of these murder victims and citizens of California deserve to have the punishment carried out.

I recognize there are many Californians who morally oppose the death penalty and I respect their beliefs even though we disagree. However, it is hypocritical for those behind Proposition 34 to criticize the costs while at the same time raising concerns about delays caused by the current appeals process. The system is broken because those who want to abolish it have broken it, and they should admit it. When Proposition 34 is defeated, the Legislature must have the courage to uphold the will of the people and seek common-sense reforms that mend – but don't end – the death penalty.

Many states guarantee convicted murderers their due process appeal rights while also guaranteeing law abiding citizens justice. Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Ohio and many other states have implemented the death penalty fairly. Recent decisions have streamlined the federal appeal process, and just weeks ago the California Supreme Court ruled that serial frivolous appeals would now be met with rejection and a fine. California is prepared to use a single drug injection, which has been accepted by the liberal 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

There is a reason every leading public safety group and local government opposes Proposition 34. California's death penalty can work, and there are more than a dozen vicious murderers who have exhausted their appeals and can receive the sentence that they have earned. When you vote on Proposition 34 this November, ask yourself what you would want if it was your child who was brutally raped, tortured and murdered. Please stand up for victims and reserve the death penalty for California's worst killers.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Michael Lyons (PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=601742136516049&set=pb.601603449863251.-2207520000.1380190203.&type=3&permPage=1)

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.change.org/petitions/forever-fighting-in-memory-of-michael-lyons

Petitioned The Governor of CA

Forever Fighting In Memory of Michael Lyons

Petition by

Sandy Friend

Marysville, CA

My name is Sandra Friend. I am the mother of Michael Lyons.  Michael was brutally murdered in May 1996 in Yuba City, California. He was only 8 year old when he was kidnapped while he was walking home from school.  Michael never made it home that day, for there was a sexual predator stalking him.

This monster took Michael, tortured him for 10 hours, inflicting 70 to 80 non-lethal stab wounds to my little boy. Yet he was not finished; he continued to rape Michael the entire time.  He ultimately took his life the following morning.

The monster who took Michael is no stranger to the criminal justice system.  Robert Rhoades is a serial killer and a rapist who preys on the innocent.  In April, 1984, he kidnapped, raped and murdered Julie Connell in Alameda County while she studied at a Pleasanton Park.  Four days later, he robbed another woman in San Lorenzo, CA.

One year later, in April 1985, Rhoades kidnapped, robbed, sexually assaulted and tortured a woman at knifepoint in Yuba County.  Rhoades told the victim that he was taking her to the river bottoms in Marysville to kill her.   This victim jumped from a moving car to save her own life.  In 1993, Rhoades sexually assaulted a 4-year-old girl in Amador County.  A few years later, he murdered my little boy.

Rhoades rightfully received the death penalty in both Michael and Julie’s case. Our communities could see the pure evil monster that our children came across on those fateful days. Members of our communities delivered the only punishment deserving of his crimes-the Death Penalty.

Rhoades is the poster child for the death penalty. He is the reason we all need to stand up and be heard, because these monsters will never stop. Rhoades is a master manipulator, meticulous in each crime he does as he says, "the good ones never get caught." He is a monster who targets our children; he has no remorse for the crimes he has committed. He is pure evil.

Can you imagine the criminals he will be in contact with if left to live out his life in prison? He will breed a new type of criminals and killers. He has 725 equally sadistic evil monsters to spend his life with if we abolish the death penalty.

Rhoades was hiding amongst us year after year, destroying our communities and our lives by taking the things we cherish most- our loved ones. Rhoades may have thought he silenced Michael, but Michael will never be silenced. I will be Michael’s voice and I will continue to fight for Michael’s rights- for the Victims’ rights. I may have been a Victim but now I am a Survivor. Thank you for your time.

PLEASE BE THE VOICE OF THE VICTIMS WHO CAN'T SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. THESE MURDERERS SHOWED NO MERCY FOR THE LIVES THEY TOOK... VOTE TO KEEP THE DEATH PENALTY FOR THESE HEINOUS KILLERS.

Visit www.waitingforjustice.net to see the truth about the ACLU's effort to abolish the death penalty.

Sandy Friend  

Michael’s Mother

To:
The Governor of CA
California Voters, Death Penalty

I just signed the following petition addressed to: California Voters:

Vote To Keep the Death Penalty In California.

I just want to share some facts with you on the Death Penalty and the killers who make up death row in California.

There are 725 men on death row; 17 more are women. These killers are the worst of the worst. They are cop killers, serial killers and child rape killers. 135 cases involved sexual assault and murder. 126 cases involved torture before murder. 220 victims were children. 44 victims were peace officers

Countless more people were victimized by these murderers and fortunately survived.

These killers earned the death sentenced given to them by juries across this state. The families of these murder victims and citizens of California deserve to have the punishment carried out.

The system is broken because those who want to abolish it have broken it. These murderers don't deserve to benefit from a system their lawyers broke. We need to Mend It-Not End It.

Abolishing the death penalty will cost taxpayers millions of dollars every year to pay for their housing and healthcare. Housing them for life and giving them luxuries that many people never have in life is simply wrong. Executing them and carrying out the will of the people not only saves money but serves justice.

Robert Rhoades should not be in general population where he can teach other criminals about his crimes. He deserves to stay on death row where he has little interaction with others. Life on death row is not inhumane; it is deserved.

If you believe for one minute that these Monsters are being punished or are suffering you are wrong. Our prisons are overcrowded; more and more murderers, child molesters and rapists are being released. That is a fact.

Any claims that innocent people are on death row are just wrong. Even Governor Brown has said there are no innocent people on death row. Death row is made up of killers of different races and backgrounds. Michael's killer, Robert Rhoades, came from a very wealthy, upper class family in Yuba City.

The claim that families and victims seek death for revenge is just wrong. We want JUSTICE. We are waiting for justice.

I stand united with victims. I will be the voice for my son Michael. I ask each of you to stand with me; stand up for victims. Stop the ACLU. Preserve the Death Penalty for California's worst killers.

Visit www.waitingforjustice.net to learn the truth about this cause.

VOTE THIS COMING NOVEMBER...

Sincerely,
[Your name] 

Team Michael T-Shirt (PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.michaellyonsfoundation.org/prod01.htm)