May 1, 2021- 6:02 p.m.
A Baltimore man charged in the death of two women arranged to pay for a date with one of them and then killed her inside her home, according to charging documents.
Christopher Tyson, 22, has been charged with strangling two women to death less than a week apart in March. One woman was killed inside of her home in the 2400 block of Annapolis Road, in the city’s Westport neighborhood, and the other died near a Pulaski Highway motel, police said.
In the first incident, the sister of 21-year-old Denita Barrett told police that she found her unresponsive inside her house. Medics were called to the scene and Baltimore police’s homicide unit began investigating the incident as a suspicious death, according to charging documents.
Detectives found a cell phone and two unwrapped condoms on a couch located near Barrett. They saw no obvious signs of trauma after a forensic investigator arrived to the scene, charging documents said.
Family members told police that Barrett had been operating as a sex worker at her home and dates were solicited through a “text now” application. The last conversation was from March 21 — the day she was killed — in which the victim and Tyson discussed prices and times to meet.
In the other incident, on March 28, officers arrived at the Deluxe Plaza Motel in the 6400 block of Pulaski Highway where 37-year-old Ashley Lambert was found unresponsive. The room Lambert stayed in was paid for by an unidentified person who was not involved in the killing, according to charging documents.
Her cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation and classified as a homicide, according to charging documents.
Detectives identified Tyson by gathering through surveillance footage, including nearby businesses. They also subpoenaed Wells Fargo bank records after determining he bought something at a local store with a Visa debit card, the document said.
Baltimore police arrested him without incident. After first denying he did anything wrong, Tyson later admitted to Lambert’s killing, documents said.
In the case of Barrett, Tyson admitted to police that he used apps to solicit women who operate as sex workers. After he denied asking Barrett for a date, he admitted that he went to her residence to have sex with her. Tyson told police he began joking with her for working as a sex worker and she became “angry” and “attacked him.”
Tyson admitted to restraining her around her neck until she passed out. He said he then checked for her pulse before he left and thought she was still alive, police said.
On Thursday evening, Baltimore police released Tyson’s booking photo, saying they were doing so “in the hopes that other possible assault victims may come forward as detectives have not ruled out the possibility that Christopher Tyson may have committed other assaults where the victim(s) may not have reported the incident.”
