Shooting victim identified

Advocate staff photo by LIBBY ISENHOWER -- Family members stand behind a memorial set up Sunday for Toliver Lyons, 25, who was shot and killed Saturday night on Stern Avenue. The family members are: Dayna Brown, left, Lyons' cousin, Toliver Lyons Jr., 6, his son, and Doretha Benson, the elder Lyons' mother. "He's going to be well missed," Benson said. "He's a good father. His kids didn't want for nothing."

The Sheriff’s Office identified Toliver Terrell Lyons, 25, on Sunday as the most recent person to be gunned down in East Baton Rouge Parish.

Lyons, 3638 Webb St., was shot and killed at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday on Stern Avenue, said Casey Rayborn Hicks,a spokeswoman for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Family members of Lyons said he was shot near an apartment complex on 8282 Stern Ave., at the Starboard Drive intersection.

Dayna Brown, 42, Lyons’ cousin, said she arrived at the complex about five minutes after the shooting occurred.

Brown said deputies told her that someone from across the street had approached Lyons and asked him where he could purchase marijuana.

Lyons said he didn’t know, and without warning, the man started shooting at Lyons, Brown said.

wLyons was struck by at least one bullet as he tried to run away, she said.

Brown said Lyons knew the shooter and had been in arguments with him before. Brown declined to identify the man.

Brown, who said Lyons had been shot twice last year, said her cousin had “haters, but no enemies.”

“If you asked him for something, he would give it to you,” Brown said.

Lyons was arrested April 26, 2011, and accused of shooting at a group of people on Anne Marie Drive two days earlier, East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court records show.

Charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, Lyons later pleaded guilty to illegally carrying a weapon, court records show.

Lyons was also arrested and accused of shooting at a man May 15, 2007, on Skysail Avenue, court records show. Lyons pleaded guilty to the illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities in that case, court records show.

Travis Lyons, 45, Toliver Lyons’ father, said his son “just made some bad choices in life.”

“He was an outgoing person, a loving kid,” Travis Lyons said in a telephone interview.

Family members set up a memorial Sunday outside the Stern Avenue complex where deputies found Lyons’ body.

The display included roses, “I Love You” balloons and a bandana belonging to one of Lyons’ good friends.

Brown said Lyons had three children, all younger than 7 years old.

“My cousin was a good, loving, sweet young man,” Brown said.

Doretha Benson, 44, Lyons’ mother, said her son had enrolled in Baton Rouge Community College within the last couple of weeks.

“He’s going to be well-missed,” Benson said.

Anyone with information about the incident can call the Sheriff’s Office at [phone] or Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-STOP.