We often hear about rappers getting into trouble with the law, but for Mystikal's family, their tragedy involved the rapper's sister, Michelle Tyler. In September 1994, Tyler was found inside of her home, stabbed and strangled to death. Her boyfriend, Damion Neville, grandson of one of the famed Neville Brothers, was arrested and charged for the crime. However, at trial, Neville was found not guilty. Mystikal recently sat down with VladTV and discussed his sister's murder, including how he was the person to find her in their family home.
"I found her. Thank God it was me and not my little brother, not my mom or somebody like that," said the rapper. "I found my sister in her bed dead with a Mystikal promotion t-shirt on saying, 'I'm not that n*gga' on it. Man. On my birthday. She had just signed with Big Boy Records, too... She was signed as an R&B act and I was signed as a rapper." He added, "It was my first single, 'Not That N*gga,' and she was singing, 'I'm not that n*gga.' That's how that went down. I found that girl like that, man."
"[Neville] actually confessed, also," said Mystikal. "And took all that back. His family had a lot of influence and we were nobodies at that time, so he wound up getting off of it. I said, 'That's alright.' There's more than one way to skin a cat. My mom...the day I was about to hit that f*ckin' door and do something and never make it back home, my mom, she must have saw it in my eyes." She caught the rapper before he made a mistake that could have changed the course of his life and told him to choose a different option.
"I just took refuge in my music after that," he added. When asked if he believed that Neville was the killer, Mystikal reiterated that Neville admitted to the crime. "I know he did it. Absolutely, I know he did it." The rapper also spoke about reliving the tragedy every year as he attempted to celebrate his birthdays. Last year, Damion Neville sat down with the Murder Master Music Show and defended himself against the longstanding accusations. He denied that he was responsible for Tyler's death and claimed that the confession came after police allegedly beat him.
"I was found not guilty, they didn't have no evidence, they didn't have f*ckin' nothing on me because I wasn't even home," said Neville. "People saw me and other people knew I wasn't there. Even the brother [Mystikal] came downstairs and said I wasn't there." Mystikal claims that he's forgiven Neville and called Damion's family to lay any hostilities aside. Watch Mystikal speak about his sister and listen to Neville's interview where he discusses the crime, below.
