Family wants public to remember Shavon Randle two years after her murder
Tuesday marks two years since the tragic murder of 13-year-old Shavon Randle shocked North Texas and the nation.
Shavon’s family visited her at a local cemetery on the second anniversary of her murder. The teen girl was killed in the sordid world of drug dealers over stolen marijuana she had nothing to do with.
Two people are in federal prison for their dirty hands in the girl’s killing. Four others wait for justice to be meted out, but no one has been charged with her murder.
Shavon's family gathered to honor their loved one at a place they shouldn't: the cemetery. She turned 13 only six days before she was kidnapped on June 28, 2017. She was found murdered four days later on July 2.
“It was funny to us to just watch her grow up,” said Shaquna Persley, Shavon’s mom. “And it was upsetting that I’m not gonna be able to see her grow up.”
Shavon was killed over more than $100,000 of stolen marijuana that neither she nor her immediate family had anything to do with.
Lancaster Police Sergeant Erick Alexander was part of the law enforcement response hoping to find the little girl. He talked about the case publicly for the very first time.
“It was something like out of a movie almost. It was hard to believe at first until we start getting the information coming in, and then we knew it was real,” Alexander said. “There was a lot going through our mind. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it was. I mean, it was a horrific ordeal. Something that none of us had ever really dealt with before.”
Darius Fields was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison on gun charges. His girlfriend, Laporsha Polley, is serving four years in prison for buying guns for Fields.
Devontae Owens, Desmond Jones and Laquon Wilkerson all face aggravated kidnapping charges. Kendall Perkins is charged with stealing the marijuana. No one is charged with Shavon’s murder.
“If I could, I’d charge every one of them that had something to do with it,” Alexander said. “Of course, we're constrained by the letter of the law of what we can and can’t charge people with.”
Wristbands were made in Shavon's favorite color with her birth and death dates for the start of a non-profit that Shaquna calls Shavon's Army.
“We want to try and keep as many kids from falling in the wrong footsteps as possible,” she said.
Shaquna also wants to keep Shavon’s memory alive.
“I don’t want Dallas to ever forget Shavon Randle because I’m never gonna forget her,” she said.
Trials for two of the men being held on aggravated kidnapping charges are set for the second and third weeks in September.
No court date has been set for Kendall Perkins, the man charged with stealing the marijuana and setting into motion the events that ended with Shavon's murder.