Desmond Jones Sentenced To 99 Years For Role In 13-Year-Old Shavon Randle's Death
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Desmond Jones, one of four men accused of kidnapping and killing 13-year-old Shavon Randle in 2017, was found guilty Friday of engaging in organized criminal activity.
A couple of hours later he was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
The punishment phase was interrupted with a couple of outbursts. One happened while Jones' sister took the stand in his defense.
The first one happened when someone was leaving the courtroom and yelled something at him.
Dallas County prosecutors told a jury of seven women and five men that Jones was connected to a violent South Dallas drug gang.
In the summer of 2017, two armed men stole thousands of dollars worth of marijuana from Jones' drug gang associates, prosecutors claimed.
That heist set in motion a violent response from Jones and the alleged leader of the drug gang, Darius Fields — who was implicated and sentenced to 18 years in prison last year.
Investigators said Fields targeted the girlfriend of the rival drug gang leader as payback for the marijuana heist. But authorities said they instead kidnapped a young cousin of the targeted girlfriend from her Lancaster home.
Jones, in a recording played in court during the trial, said he saw Randle taken from the house and also witnessed her murder days later.
But Jones claimed he never directly participated in neither Randle's abduction or shooting.
