The Auburn Police Division is investigating the homicide of a 59-year-old woman.
Early Sunday morning police and emergency services responded to a call on White Street of an unresponsive person. Upon arriving at the scene Phyllis Gulatte, 59, was discovered with no signs of life and multiple stab wounds, according to a release from the Coroner’s office.
Lee County Coroner Bill Harris pronounced her dead at the scene. The coroner’s office believes there was an altercation between Gulatte and another person that resulted in her death, according to the same release.
Police have named Christopher Bernard Lyles, 48, of Auburn as a suspect in the case. Lyles and Gulatte knew each other, police said.
Sunday morning Lyles and Gulatte were in an altercation Sunday morning, which allegedly resulted in Gulatte being stabbed. A warrant for Lyles arrest has been obtained. It charged him with murder. Auburn Police and the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force are searching for Lyles, police said.
Lyles was on parole for a 16-year sentence for striking a victim in the head with a firearm in 2008 at the time of Gulatte's death. Auburn Police requested the Parole Board deny Lyles parole related to the 16-year sentence from 2008, police said.
At the time of the 2008 assault, Lyles was on parole for a 30-year sentence for convictions of robbery, assult and discharing a firearm in 1992, police said.
The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences will conduct a postmortem exam as the Auburn Police Division and the Lee County Coroner’s office continue to investigate the case. Any one with information is encouraged to contact Auburn Police or the Coroner’s office.
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