Memorial Grows in Oak Cliff for 13-Year-Old Slain in Drug-Related Kidnapping

In the end, it appears kidnappers murdered 13-year-old Shavon Randle over a drug heist. Police and her family say that kidnappers abducted the Lancaster teenager after a man named Kendall Perkins and three other men stole 22 pounds of marijuana from Devontae Owens and Darius Fields on June 26 at a Lancaster Motel 6.

Perkins, according to his arrest warrant affidavit, is Ledoris Randle's boyfriend. Ledoris Randle is Shavon Randle's cousin. Perkins is in Dallas County Jail facing aggravated robbery charges for stealing the pot. His bail is set at $50,000.

According to police, Owens told an FBI informant that he planned to kidnap a child in order to ensure the return of the stolen marijuana. Late last week, Lancaster police named him a person of interest in Shavon Randle's disappearance, and police determined that his cellphone was in close proximity to the teen's shortly before her phone was turned off June 28.

Police arrested Owens on Saturday. He's in Dallas County Jail facing aggravated kidnapping charges and $500,000 bail. Police say Owens acted as a bodyguard. Laquon Wilkerson is also in Dallas County Jail on an aggravated kidnapping charge related to the case. His bail is $1 million.

Three others have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder. Police arrested Laporshya Polley, who was inside the Motel 6 room where Perkins allegedly stole the marijuana, according to police, at a Best Western in Irving. She faces charges for destroying evidence because she tried to flush several grams of marijuana down the toilet as police entered her hotel room, according to police.

Fields, who was arrested with Polley, has been charged with marijuana possession and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. According to his arrest warrant affidavit, police spotted an AK-47 in his car, which was parked outside his and Polley's room at the Best Western. Both Polley and Fields are in Irving City Jail.

According to police, Desmond Jones led officers and FBI agents to Shavon Randle's body, which was found in a vacant house in the 2200 block of Kiest Boulevard in Oak Cliff. Michael Titus, identified early in the search for Randle as a person of interest in her disappearance, was also found inside the house. Jones is in Dallas County Jail, charged with failing to report Randle's and Titus' deaths.

The Dallas County medical examiner confirmed late Monday that Titus was killed by a shot to the head but did not announce how Randle died.

On Monday night, several hundred people attended a vigil for Randle near the abandoned house. Shaquana Presley, Randle’s mother, took solace in the crowd.

"When we pulled up, I saw all y’all out here, I was like, ‘All these people are here for my baby," she said. "Y’all got kids? Cherish them, oh my God. Hold them and don’t let them go. Hold them and don’t let them go because I wish she was here right now where I could hold her and not let her go."

Dallas City Council member Dwaine Caraway, whose district includes the vacant house, vowed that the boarded-up home and others like it in Oak Cliff would be torn down.

“Shavon has done something that has awakened each and every one of us,” Caraway said. "That house, others like that house, is coming down."