The trial began Monday for one of four men indicted in connection to the kidnapping and killing of a 13-year-old Lancaster girl.
Desmond Jones faces a charge of organized criminal activity, which is a first-degree felony. New indictments filed in August implicate four men -- Darius Jamal Fields, Devonate Dasean Owens, Laquon Dishon Wilkerson and Jones -- in the death of Shavon Randle.
Randle was kidnapped in June 2017 in what authorities believe was retaliation for a drug deal turned robbery. Her body was found four days later.
During opening statements the prosecution asked the jury to be patient because the story of what happened to Shavon Randle was complicated.
Comparing it to a puzzle, prosecutors said the chain of violence began with $250,000 of marijuana that was stolen from a gang to which Jones belonged. The man who allegedly took the drugs, Kendal Perkins, was dating Shavon Randle's cousin at the time, which prosecutors said led to Randle's kidnapping.
”Desmond Jones was part of the conspiracy, the criminal activity, the crew that kidnapped a 13-year-old little girl and ultimately killed her," Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Falk told the jury.
Among the first to testify was FBI Special Agent Michael Mahan, who led the search for Randle and developed a "rapport" with Desmond Jones. Over the course of a few days, Jones was interviewed multiple times and ultimately led law enforcement to the drug house where Randle's body, and that of an executed gang member, had been left.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“Smell of death hits you in the nose, it was terrible," Mahan said of arriving on scene at the home.
An interview Mahan taped with Jones was played for jurors, during which Jones could be heard telling Mahan he was present when Randle was shot and killed.
"I see the girl and I see the blood," Jones can be heard saying on the recording.
Jones' defense team declined to give an opening statement.
Fields was sentenced to 18 years in prison in May 2019, while the other three men are still accused of aggravated kidnapping.
No one has yet been charged with her murder.
