The Dallas Examiner
During what may have been the longest four days of their life, a Lancaster family was suddenly faced with the abduction and murder of a teenage female member in the family.
On June 28 at 10:48 a.m., the Lancaster Police Department responded to a missing person call in the 1300 block of Southridge Drive. Officers made contact with the reporting person and family member, who stated that she received a phone call from an unknown male who stated they had Shavon Le’Faye Randle, a 13-year-old eighth-grade student who was being held against her will, according to department representatives.
The unknown male on the phone also made threats to harm her. Without enough leads to go on and knowing that young Randle was very likely in immediate danger, an Amber Alert was issued.
Hours later, the LPD released the information to the media, describing Randle as a missing Black female, approximately 13 years old, 5 foot 5 inches, weighing 120 pounds. She was last seen June 28 at approximately 9:45 a.m. wearing a white shirt and blue basketball shorts.
The media announcement also asked the public to contact the LPD if anyone had information on Randle or her abductors and information on a vehicle that may belong to the kidnappers. Print and broadcast media alerts, along with social media posts, went out immediately.
“Further investigation revealed a possible suspect vehicle was seen and described as a white 4-door sedan with the damage of dark paint transfer on the rear passenger side of the vehicle,” the LPD notification stated.
The next day, as the search continued for the young missing teen, the LPD requested assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As the FBI joined the search, its tip line was issued to the public.
At one point, the family reported having received threatening calls and a ransom demand, but no additional information was released at that time.
Later that day, as the investigation intensified, police held a press conference to release information on four people of interest that they were actively seeking for questioning. Detectives believed 26-year-old Darius Fields of Glenn Heights, 19-year-old Michael Titus of Dallas, 25-year-old Laporshya Polley of Dallas and 24-year-old Devontae Owens of Dallas had information about the abduction.
An award for the whereabouts and safe return of Randle was also issued during the conference.
“[We’re] asking anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Shavon Randle to please release her and allow her to come home,” an officer stated. “As a result of Shavon’s kidnapping, the FBI’s offering a $25,000 reward for the identification and location of Owens and Titus, and the safe return of Shavon. Anyone with information regarding Owens and Titus or Shavon’s location, please contact the FBI’s tip line.”
On Saturday, as a result of the FBI’s plea for information related to the disappearance of Randle and the location of Owens and Titus, the LPD and the FBI arrested Owens early Saturday. The team also arrested 30-year-old Laquon Wilkerson, who was identified as another suspect in the kidnapping. Both were held on $500,000 bond and charged with aggravated kidnapping.
The search for Titus continued, and authorities had still not found Randle.
On Sunday morning, the LPD and FBI announced the recovery of two bodies in an Oak Cliff house in relation to the case.
LPD Assistant Chief Charlie Miller and Special Investigator Eric Jackson, who is in charge of the Dallas office of the FBI, issued a Facebook broadcast to update citizens.
“After receiving information tonight, we responded to 2208 Kiest Blvd. looking for information related to Shavon Randle,” Jackson said. “After arriving at the residence, we noticed that there were some injured individuals inside of the house. Now that we’ve gotten inside of the residence, we have positively identified two victims in the house. One, a young female. The other, an unknown male. We have positively identified the young female as Shavon Randle.
“We have notified the family of this information and we’re in the process of continuing our investigation. I would like to take this time to thank the community for helping to lead us to this, the media for helping us broadcast this, and law enforcement partners – local, state and federal – for helping us locate Shavon. We didn’t have the positive result we were looking for but being able to let Shavon’s family know that we located her was our goal. We’re going to continue our investigation and anyone that we find were involved in this heinous crime against Shavon, we will bring you to justice. We’ll hold you accountable.”
The male has since been positively identified as Titus.
As the investigation continued, authorities discovered that the motive for the kidnapping was retaliation after drugs were stolen from the suspects. Authorities stated that Randle was innocent and had nothing to do with the stolen drugs.
The news of Randle’s death spread rapidly through social media and people throughout the city – and even from across the country – expressed their condolences to the family, as well as outrage for the loss of a young girl and sympathy for what she may have experienced, along with an array of other emotions and prayers.
On Monday evening, a vigil was held in honor of Randle.
“As a father, I can only imagine the pain the Randle family must be feeling at this moment, and I pledge to do all I can to bring the alleged perpetrators to justice,” said Dallas City Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, who attended the vigil, as he offered his condolences to the family.
The investigation into Randle’s death is ongoing, and police continue to question two other men. The police have six people in jail, but only Owens and Wilkerson have been charged in the kidnapping of Shavon. Other charges and an autopsy are pending. No other information had been released as of print deadline.