A tragic kidnapping unfolded in North Texas over the weekend when authorities found an innocent 13-year-old girl, used as a ransom pawn in a stolen drug deal, dead in south Dallas.
The Dallas FBI announced Sunday they located and “positively identified the body” of 13-year-old Shavon Le’Feye Randle, a Lancaster resident. They discovered the deceased bodies of Randle and one of the persons of interest in the case, Michael Titus, 19, in an abandoned East Oak Cliff home.
“We have positively identified the young female is Shavon Randle. We have notified the family of this information and we’re in the process of continuing our investigation, said Eric K. Jackson, FBI special agent in charge.
With sadness we announce, earlier this morning the FBI positively identified the body of 13-year-old Shavon Randle.
— FBI Dallas (@FBIDallas) July 2, 2017
This dire situation went public on June 28 when the City of Lancaster, located roughly 15 miles south of downtown Dallas, issued an Amber Alert for the missing teen. Randle’s family told local news media the girl vanished while caring for a disabled relative.
A man who identified himself as Randle’s uncle told KTVT the teen lived with an aunt and cousin for the past two years. He said Randle’s mother resided elsewhere and her father was in prison.
Lancaster police said two days before Randle vanished, Kendall Perkins, the boyfriend of the 13-year-old’s cousin Ledoris Randle, allegedly stole large amount of marijuana at a Lancaster Motel 6 from two of the persons of interest in this case — Devontae Owens, 24, and Darius Fields, 26, according to WFAA. Police believed the kidnappers used Randle as a ransom ploy to get the drugs back.
Ledoris Randle then told authorities she received a phone call on the morning of June 28 from a private number. The unidentified person on the other end of the line said they had Shavon and warned Ledoris if she contacted local law enforcement, they would kill the girl. Court documents revealed a coworker confided in Ledoris, saying “Fields has a history with kidnapping people.” The FBI also received an anonymous tip that Owens “was going to kidnap a child to get his narcotics back.”
On Saturday, Lancaster police and the FBI began arresting the purported suspects in connection with the kidnapping scheme and Randle’s death. They charged Owens with aggravated kidnapping and booked him into the Dallas County Jail. Laquon Wilkerson, 30, named in an arrest warrant as Owen’s “bodyguard,” was charged with aggravated kidnapping for ransom or reward. Police charged Fields with drug possession and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. LaPorshya Polley, 25, faces charges for possessing marijuana between five and 50 pounds and for tampering with that evidence because she tried to flush the marijuana down the toilet when police showed up to arrest her.
Authorities charged the boyfriend of Ledoris Randle, Perkins, 22, with aggravated robbery for his role in stealing drugs from Fields and Owens which led to Shavon Randle’s abduction. Police also charged Desmond Jones, 19, with failure to report a felony that resulted in serious bodily injury or death. Although he directed officers to the location where they found the corpses of Randle and Titus, Jones previously withheld information about the whereabouts of the two dead victim from police.
KDFW reported Randle attended Kennedy Curry Middle School. Said assistant principal Ivan Jacobs: “She was just a delight to be around. And she was a baby and she didn’t deserve this at all.”
Dallas City Councilman Dwaine Caraway added: “That 13-year-old is now at a funeral home only because of no working-type of thuggish people that have nothing to do but deal with drugs.”
Shaquna Persley, reportedly Randle’s mother, set up a GoFundMe page stating: “With heavy hearts we are asking everybody to come together and help lay our baby girl to rest.” She thanked everyone who helped authorities locate her daughter.
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