Remembering Frank Tyson
An interview with fiancée Sibrena Jones
“Sometimes I feel like I’m going to wake up from this dream.” What Sibrena Jones is living is all too real. Her fiancé Frank Tyson was killed by two Canton police officers on April 18, 2024. The US-wide nightmare of police murders is now hers. It started just after two of the best weeks of her life. Thirteen days before his death, Frank had been released from 24 years in prison. He spent the entire sentence trying to clear his name, fighting for his innocence.
“Frank was a very good man,” Sibrena said. “If anyone could clear his name, it was Frank.”
Sibrena met Frank in 1992 at a friend’s holiday gathering. After several months of cautious friendship, they started dating. Sibrena was wary of any new love interest because a previous partner had abused her. But Frank consistently showed her cheerful respect, and this gained her trust. “If people got to know Frank, they would love him,” she said.
When Frank was arrested and charged with multiple felonies in 2000, Sibrena was unconvinced. His first lawyer lost his attorney license right before the trial, and the second lawyer had little time to prepare. When she learned Frank was sentenced to 24 years, “it was a shock. I didn’t expect him to get that much time,” she said. They said goodbye in person before he started his sentence.
The prosecution’s two main witnesses formally recanted in 2002 and said in court documents that prosecutors had forced them to lie.
Sibrena and Frank spoke daily on the phone and she visited him several times per month. He concealed his worries about the harsh life in prison. She could tell that he was under stress. “Before, everything in the world was good with him,” Sibrena said. He smiled rarely then.
The only two people Frank allowed to visit him were Sibrena and Mamie. He wanted to keep focus on exonerating his record.
In 2018, Sibrena moved to Houston, Texas. They maintained their relationship by phone, letters, and fewer visits.
In 2019, Mamie passed away. The loss impacted both Frank and Sibrena. She had grown close with his mother over the decades of their relationship.
Sibrena traveled from Texas to welcome Frank when he was released from prison. They planned to spend several weeks together, as she drove him around to appointments and helped re-introduce him to the outside world. He couldn’t operate her smart phone, so she got him a flip phone. Self-checkout stations at stores confused him. He had not driven a car in decades but, “he was the same Frank he was when he went in.” His amiable smile returned.
They enjoyed the total solar eclipse together, visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and talked about moving to Florida if the parole board allowed it. Sibrena casually mentioned in their hotel room that they might want to do laundry soon. The next thing she knew, Frank brought in all their freshly cleaned and folded clothes. “That’s just him,” Sibrena said.
They had not previously discussed marriage. Sibrena was surprised when Frank asked her to marry him, but she immediately answered “yes.” They made plans to do a simple courthouse ceremony the next week. But they never got the chance. “He was there, and then he wasn’t there no more,” Sibrena said.
On Thursday, April 18, Frank’s solo evening drive turned into a crisis which ended in his death at the hands of Canton police officers. When Sibrena heard the news that he was dead, she sat stunned. Her closest friend and partner was gone.
She watched the officer body camera footage only once: when the Tyson family and she had a private meeting with Mayor William V. Sherer II, before the footage was released to the public. “That is so embedded in my mind.” The public version was edited, but “they did see enough.”
She expected more people who knew Frank to attend his funeral. “The church should have been filled,” she said. “Where the people at?”
Sibrena was also bothered that more people haven’t pushed for accountability of the officers who murdered Frank. “We really need for them to come together.”
Sibrena’s loss is so raw, she has barely begun to process it. She didn’t celebrate winter holidays this time. “I didn’t even buy Christmas gifts. I didn’t have the desire.” Frank’s birthday is three days after hers. “I just cried” when that day came.
Sibrena feels encouraged when Frank’s life—and unjust death—are not forgotten. She asked for community members to keep speaking up. “We really need y’all’s help.”
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