Mansfield police make arrest in 18-year-old's murder nine years ago

Nearly ten years after an 18-year-old was shot to death, Mansfield police think they've found his killer.

Police haven't named the suspect, who was 15 at the time of the killing. They only said he’s connected to the 2008 deadly shooting of Danny “D.L.” Ramsey and faces a capital murder charge.

Adreana Ramsey, D.L.’s mother, was shocked after learning the person accused of killing her son was so young when the murder occurred. Police, armed with new information and evidence, arrested the now 24-year-old in Houston on Thursday.

"It was 4 days before his 19th birthday, it just wasn't long enough to have him,” Ramsey said.

it was a case gone cold until just recently. D.L. Ramsey was gunned down in the parking lot of the Target store where he worked in Mansfield. Police released surveillance video of the vehicle believed to be involved, but the investigation never produced a suspect. 

"He wasn't into drugs, he'd never been in trouble with the law or anything like that,” Ramsey said.

D.L. had been at a party earlier that night and was standing in the parking lot waiting for a friend when he was shot and left to die.

For 9 years his family has been in agony, dealing with the pain of the unsolved crime. Now D.L.’s mother is planning a trip to the cemetery where he's buried.

"I know he doesn't hear me but I just need to tell him that something finally happened,” Ramsey said.

Because the suspect was a juvenile at the time of the killing, Mansfield police cannot share his identity unless he becomes certified as an adult. But they do hope to send a message to others who they strongly believe were involved.

"We know there’s other people who have direct knowledge of this case,” Mansfield PD Sgt. Tom Hewitt. “What we're asking for is that those people with direct knowledge of what we're talking about, come forward and come talk to us."