Dallas investigators knew names of suspects within 24 hours of Shavon Randle's kidnapping
DALLAS - Dallas investigators revealed in court Wednesday they knew the names of those who may have been involved in the 2017 kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl within 24 hours of her disappearance.
Darius Fields is on trial for organized criminal activity linked to the kidnapping and murder of Shavon Randle. Three others were arrested and charged in relation to the crime, but no one has been charged for Randle's murder.
FBI Special Agent Jennifer Mullican walked the jury through the timeline of the investigation in June 2017. She says very early on investigators already knew the circumstances surrounding this kidnapping were different.
"Our office had received information this was possibly a drug-related kidnapping," Mullican said. "We realized it was a stranger abduction and it wasn’t going to be something that was going to be resolved relatively quick."
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Very quickly, agents set up a 1-800 number for tips, with hundreds pouring in.
They developed several persons of interest by the morning after Shavon Randle was kidnapped.
"Darius Fields had been identified, Michael Titus had been identified, Kendall Perkins had been identified and I believe LaQuan Wilkerson had been identified by that point," Mullican said.
Jurors were again shown surveillance video of the robbery that started it all. Prosecutors said Kendall Perkins, who was dating one of Shavon’s relatives, stole $250,000 worth of marijuana from Darius Fields -- and Shavon’s kidnapping was retaliation.
Jurors also saw video of fields and others meeting up. Prosecutors say they were planning Shavon’s abduction.
Investigators also went through data on Fields’ cell phone and social media, which shows him discussing drug deals, flashing cash and guns and threatening violence. There were also photos of Kendall Perkins with his girlfriend and children on Fields’ phone.
Four days after the kidnapping, an associate of fields led investigators to the abandoned house where Shavon’s body was found along with the body of Michael Titus. Mullican says by that point it appeared Shavon had been dead for some time. She said until that point, law enforcement was actively seeking to find Shavon, hopefully alive.
Jurors are expected to hear in the coming days from an FBI cell phone data analyst as well as the agent that processed evidence at the scene where Shavon was found.
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