The brother of a 20-year-old British tourist who was found dead in a lift shaft in Turkey claims he was murdered.
Tyler Kerry, a labourer from Basildon, Essex, was discovered on Friday morning at the Trendy Lara Hotel in the city of Antalya.
Younger sibling Mason Kerry, 18, who was one of the people who found Tyler’s body, said he is ‘100%’ convinced his brother was killed by someone.
Tyler arrived in Turkey with his grandparents, girlfriend Molly Underdown and other relatives on November 27.
A group of them were enjoying a drink at the hotel bar in the early hours of Friday when they noticed Tyler – who had fallen asleep on a sofa – was missing.
Mason began frantically searching for his brother before finding him fatally injured at the bottom of the lift shaft in the hotel basement.
He told the BBC: ‘It was heart-wrenching, heartbreaking. I never, ever thought I would see anything like that in my entire life.
‘To the day I die I’m never going to be able to take my mind off it.’
According to Mason, during searches, Tyler’s vape was discovered covered in blood on the hotel’s first floor.
The body of Tyler Kerry (pictured), a labourer from Basildon, Essex, was discovered on Friday morning at the Trendy Lara Hotel in the city of Antalya
Younger sibling Mason Kerry (pictured with girlfriend), who was one of the people who found Tyler’s body, said he was ‘100%’ convinced he was killed by someone
According to Tyler’s great uncle, Alex Price, he had been thinking about moving in with his girlfriend Molly Underdown (pictured)
Tragically, Tyler was found ‘flat on his face’ wearing just a pair of boxers and socks, while bloody articles of his clothing were found elsewhere in the hotel, the family previously said.
Mason believes the police should be treating his brother’s death as a murder investigation.
He said: ‘My brother’s been killed, 100%,’ and added he just wants to see ‘justice’.
‘Me and the family, we can’t cope just living in the dark. We need to know now,’ Mason continued.
Collette Kerry, 56, the pair’s grandmother, told the BBC that police were treating Tyler’s death as suspicious.
His great uncle, Alex Price, 42, told The Sunday Times on Tuesday that the family were at this time ‘not so sure how accidental the situation is’ due to some of what they described as ‘suspicious details’ surrounding the incident.
Since the 20-year-old’s passing, a GoFundMe has been set up to help repatriate Tyler’s body to the UK. It has so far raised more than £5,000
He said: ‘The information we have been provided is quite limited. I believe Turkish police attended at the time of the incident and they have not provided any further feedback.’
‘The hotel hasn’t been forthcoming with information and I believe the lift shaft where Tyler was found was back up and running within a couple of hours of the incident.’
According to Mr Price his nephew had been thinking about moving in with his girlfriend Molly Underdown.
Ms Underdown paid tribute to her boyfriend on Facebook who she described as ‘the most caring, loving, funny boy I have ever met’.
The grieving woman continued: ‘He lit up every room he went in with his silly little raps or his jokes. May my boy rest in peace’.
Paying tribute to his nephew, Tyler’s uncle Alex Price offered poignant words about the Manchester United-mad football fan.
‘He was an energetic, exuberant, young lad who was just settling into his life’, the uncle said.
‘He had a stable job, had just got himself a new car and was beginning to think about moving in with his girlfriend.’
Since the 20-year-old’s passing, a GoFundMe has been set up to help repatriate Tyler’s body to the UK.
