MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The man accused of holding a woman hostage for 12 hours in Covington was previously accused of domestic violence.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says 42-year-old Felix Tyler is the man who took his girlfriend Pamela Dean hostage inside her workplace in Covington overnight.
Dean was able to get out. The TBI said Tyler was killed by SWAT team members after he allegedly reached for a gun as they entered the building to rescue Dean. The incident is under investigation.
Officials say Tyler held three people hostage in total. A woman and child were able to break free early on.
“During the time of the negotiations he said numerous times that he was going to kill her,” said Jack Howell, interim chief of the Covington Police Department.
WREG did some digging and uncovered a pattern of domestic violence involving Tyler. He was arrested twice in Shelby County but never convicted.
“He been giving her a whole lot of problems and I always told her, ‘Look, if y’all can’t get along you need to separate,'” Pam Dean’s father Larry Dean said.
YWCA of Greater Memphis Executive Director Marquiepta Odom says this hostage situation shows the tell-tale signs of abusers
“Whenever someone says ‘I will kill you, hurt you,’ it’s almost in the beginning we have to make that decision that I have to get out of this situation,” Odom said. “It goes back to power and control and that manipulation, as to say ‘If I cannot have you, no one else can.'”
She’s encouraging anyone in a domestic violence situation to create a safety plan and get help.
“We can never control a perpetrators or abusers what their mindset is and potential to commit these type of crimes, but what we have to do is prepare,” Odom said.
If you are in danger or have questions about domestic violence, you can call the YWCA 24-hour crisis hotline at 901-725-4277.