Suspect connected to 13-year-old Lancaster girl's death to be sentenced for weapons charges

DALLAS - Federal prosecutors are hoping for a long prison sentence for the man linked to the kidnapping and murder of a Lancaster teenager.

Darius Fields is one of several people connected to the high-profile case that resulted in the death of 13-year-old Shavon Randle and Michael Titus in 2017. To this date, no one has been charged for their murders.

Fields was found guilty of three federal weapons charges last April. He is facing up to 25 years in prison and federal prosecutors are trying to add time to his sentence.

Testimony on Monday was aimed at proving that Fields’ actions triggered events that led to Shavon and Titus’ deaths.

Investigators believe it all started when Kendall Perkins stole drugs from Fields’ girlfriend, LaPorshya Polley. Perkins’ girlfriend, LaDoris Randle, is Shavon’s older cousin.

In retaliation for the stolen drugs, investigators believe Fields ordered Devontae Owens, Desmond Jones and Laquon Wilkerson to kidnap Perkins’ girlfriend. However, she wasn’t home at the time and Shavon was.

For the first time, a police officer said he is sure that Titus killed Shavon and then Wilkerson killed Titus. Wilkerson is in jail only on aggravated kidnapping charges.

Lancaster Police Department Det. Joshua Horack testified that Jones took police to the house where the bodies were discovered. Jones and Owens are also in jail for aggravated kidnapping, but again, not charged with murder.

Det. Horack said Jones told him Titus killed Shavon and that Wilkerson killed Titus.

Fields’ attorney asked the detective why he thought Titus killed Shavon.

“I believe that when the Amber Alert came out, he got scared and was trying to cover up,” Horack said.

Police charged Perkins with aggravated robbery for stealing the drugs. They arrested Fields and Polley on weapons charges. Polley was sentenced to four years in prison for buying a gun for Fields, who is a convicted felon.

Fields was convicted on one count of acquiring a firearm from a licensed firearms dealer by false or fictitious statement, one count of false statement with respect to information required to be kept in records of a licensed firearms dealer, and one count of convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Randle’s mother, Shaquana Persley, was at the courthouse Monday. She said she is relieved to finally get some answers about what happened to her daughter.

“It’s a lot of stuff that you be wanting to know that they won’t tell you,” she said. “But now that you’re finding out, it kind of helps you piece the puzzles together.”

She’s hoping for some kind of justice for Shavon.

“I’m just hoping things turn out the way my family and the way I want, you know, that he gets the max and everything,” she said. “I want them to be actually punished for what they’re responsible for and that’s the death of my child.”

The sentencing is expected on Tuesday. It’s unclear if Fields will testify.