KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The eyes of a survivor hold horrific truths, and 32-year-old Tyra Randle’s seen things most of us can’t imagine.
“I think he did mean to kill me, but God had another plan,” said Randle about her ex-boyfriend, 45-year-old Lonnell James.
A Clay County judge sentenced him to life in prison last Thursday after he shot Randle eight times in January 2020 with their newborn son just inches away.
He was convicted of first-degree assault, armed criminal action, and first-degree burglary in January. FOX4 reached out to his public defender for comment but did not hear back.
Man sentenced for 2019 Independence shooting, 2022 KC sexual assault
The shooting left Randle a paraplegic; three of the bullets are still lodged in her body, including one near her spine. It’s left her in pain every day since.
“One of them had the audacity to say, ‘If he wanted to kill her, he would have killed her.’”
She’s talking about one of James’ friends who publicly defended him at last week’s sentencing.
Randle’s father shared with the court how the shooting affected him. When he told James that he had no remorse for shooting his daughter, James stormed out of the room.
“That kind of eats me up a little bit,” added Randle, “because I’ve been waiting all these years to say what I’ve wanted to say to him and he left.”
FOX4 asked Randle what she wanted to tell James in case he happens to see this report. She confidently looked into our camera lens and said, “You failed at a relationship. You failed at being a father, and you failed at killing me. So, now you will succeed in jail for the rest of your life, and I hope you take your last breath in jail and that you will never see the light of day and that you will never get out and do this to another woman.”
Happy with the knowledge that James can’t hurt her or her two kids, Randle is now thriving.
She recently won Miss Wheelchair Missouri 2024 and will compete for Miss Wheelchair USA 2025 in Grand Rapids, Michigan this August.
She also just returned from D.C. where she was a guest speaker at the Christopher Reeves Foundation, and she’s very active in her nonprofit Diamond in the Rough.
See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri
With so many things going her way, there’s one thing she’s still working on.
“My independence. My dad still drives me around. I’m trying to raise money for an accessible vehicle,” she said.
Her cousin, Joy Randle, created a GoFundMe to help her buy an adapted vehicle, which would let her take her two children to school and extracurricular activities. If you’d like to donate, click here.
Signup bonus from
