Serial Killer Robert Tyrone Hayes Murdered Four Innocent Women

He and One of His Victims Went to the Same College. So Why Do We Hear about His Cheerleading and All We Hear About Her is Her Sex Work?

Joni E. Johnston, Psy. D.
4 min readMar 1, 2022
copyright free from the Volusia County Sheriff’s office

The conviction this week of 39-year-old serial killer Robert Tyrone Hayes in the murder of three sex workers in the mid-2000s is a chilling reminder that predators can hide in plain sight. According to various media sources, Hayes was a criminal justice major and cheerleader at Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida while murdering three innocent women.

Then he became the Daytona Beach Serial Killer. He was only 22 when he began his killing career.

Hayes was on no one’s radar. Police had questioned him twice, simply because he had purchased a 40-caliber handgun around the time the first victim died; police were then looking at everyone who had purchased a similar gun. There was nothing else to raise a red flag; no felony convictions, no anonymous tips implicating him, no history of domestic violence. He seemed to be a well-adjusted college student.

Preying on the Vulnerable

Hayes’ victims had experienced much tougher lives. Hayes killed 45-year-old Laquetta Gunther, 34-year-old Julie…

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Joni E. Johnston, Psy. D.
Joni E. Johnston, Psy. D.

Written by Joni E. Johnston, Psy. D.

Forensic psychologist/private investigator//author of serial killer book. Passionate about victim’s rights, the psychology of true crime, and criminal justice.