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CHICAGO (CBS) ― Police investigating the murder of 9-year-old Mya Lyons spent the weekend searching her father's house, but Richard Lyons says the suspicion should not be directed at him.

Lyons spent Monday evening playing bocce ball with his children and his neighbors, trying his best to not let the murder of his 9-year-old daughter Mya overwhelm him or her siblings.

Two weeks ago, Lyons found Mya dead in an alley behind his home. Though an autopsy ruled only that she died from injuries due to an assault, her family said she was stabbed and raped.

Lyons, on the advice of his attorney, declined to talk on-camera Monday about what happened that night or the weekend developments in the case.

Detectives executed a search warrant in the predawn hours Saturday and Sunday. They searched Lyons' home in the 8400 block of South Gilbert Court and took his van. Lyons has said it's the van he used to drive Mya to the hospital. He also has said police inspected it that night and gave it back to him to drive home.

Meanwhile, Lyons has retained an attorney as police apparently have focused on him in their murder investigation. Lyons has said he has been cooperative with police and still believes they will find Mya's killer.

Lyons' attorney, Alan Blumenthal said he'll be the only one speaking for the family now. He said his client felt threatened by informal comments where he says police pointed the finger at him. But Blumenthal wouldn't reveal exactly what was said.

Lyons initially said he noticed his daughter was missing from her bedroom around 11 p.m. on July 14. A short time later, he found Mya in the alley near his home. She'd been stabbed, and originally sources said she was sexually assaulted, although police later said that was not the case. The seized van was likely the one used to take Mya to the hospital following the stabbing, a relative said.

Lyons and his attorney say he is not a suspect, and the suspicion should not be directed at him.

"Because of the direction the investigation has taken, and because two detectives have said things to me which were accusatory and threatening, I have hired attorneys," Lyons said on Sunday.

Blumenthal said he was retained by Richard Lyons Saturday. Both stressed Richard Lyons' need for time to grieve for his daughter, and his attorney said Lyons is not responsible for his daughter's death.

"Richard Lyons has cooperated fully and voluntarily with the police investigation from the very beginning. He has participated, without benefit of an attorney, in several interviews with the police detectives," Blumenthal said. "Richard, as well as other family members, voluntarily gave the police DNA samples at their request."

Blumenthal added: "As I stand here, there's been no indication from police that Richard Lyons is a suspect. If there is indeed suspicion directed at Richard, I can assure you and he can assure you that he is in no way responsible for Mya's death and indeed regrets that he is even compelled to make such an assertion."

Richard Lyons said after finding Mya stabbed, he picked his daughter up while she was still breathing and put her in his van. He then drove to Jackson Park Hospital as his uncle, a nurse, tended to her in the back.

"I put her in that van," Lyons said. "I do not remember how she looked. I do remember grabbing her and hearing her and putting her in and just driving off."

Lyons said he wanted the opportunity to grieve for his daughter in privacy.

"My family and I simply want to be left alone, so we can remember Mya and deal with our broken hearts," Lyons said on Sunday.

Blumenthal said Richard Lyons offered police the van 12 days ago, but it wasn't until Saturday when police used a search warrant to impound the vehicle.

Self-proclaimed family spokesperson and community activist Ziff Sistruck said police have it all wrong.

"You bobbled the case. You blew it and now you're going to point your finger at this man, it's wrong," he said.

Sistruck called the tactics of one officer "insulting" to Richard Lyons.

"He indicated to the father that 'we have your van and next we're going to get you,'" Sistruck said. "I think that's crossing the line and out of step with the investigation and unethical."

Police activity at the home has stirring mixed feelings about the direction of the case.

Neighbor Daryl Akins said he thinks this type of scrutiny amounts to harassment, given the fact that Lyons has been very cooperative with the investigation.

"He offered up his DNA … he took the polygraph. He done all those things, okay? Once all those things are done, let it go. Until you have sufficient evidence to say 'he did it,' leave him alone," Akins said.

But Akins' son said other neighbors are not as supportive.

Daryl Akins Jr. said, "Some neighbors think … they suspicious of the family, and then some are like 'naw, we've know them too long, it can't be.'"

Across town, the mother of another young murder victim, Ryan Harris, took time from paying tribute to her own daughter on the 10th anniversary of her death, to once again promise justice for Mya Lyons.

Sabrina Harris said, "I've spoken to (Mya's) mom, and just like I told her, and I stated then, I will do anything I can to help bring her killer to justice."

Police have not been talking about the case, and will only confirm that a van was taken from near the house.

Supt. Jody Weis said the investigation was a pending one and he doesn't like to comment on it.

"Sometimes it gets false hopes up, so I'll just leave it as a pending investigation, but we'll be the first to tell you when we get a good break in that."

Richard Lyons has not been charged with any crime and police have not called him a suspect or a person of interest in the murder of his daughter.


CBS 2's Mai Martinez, Joanie Lum and Pamela Jones, and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

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