Trackdown: Help find Derrick Bagenda's killers
This week, Dallas police need help finding the people who murdered a man walking home from his job just a few days after his birthday.
Derrick Bagenda was murdered on August 10 as he was walking home from his job at a McDonald's. He had just celebrated his twenty-sixth birthday five days before.
The case is a murder mystery for Detective Brent Maudlin. There is no motive and no material to follow except for a sliver of video that is kind of far off. Dallas police hope someone will help them get close to track down the suspects caught on tape but still at large.
Maudlin says Bagenda was had just moved with his family from Uganda to Dallas to follow the American dream. It was a dream that became a nightmare when he was killed in his apartment on Patterson Lane after walking home from work.
The night of his murder, Bagenda walked from the McDonalds on Montfort to a Burger King to pick up something to eat. He then walked home to his apartment.
“And was inside his apartment minding his own business when this occurred,” explained Maudlin.
Surveillance video is all cops have to work with. It’s not good, but it shows two men. One of them in shorts is seen walking down the sidewalk from Bagenda's apartment after police say one of the two shot and killed him.
Maudlin says there is no indication he had problems with anyone and was not robbed.
“It might have something to do with one of his roommates,” the detective said. “Maybe, they were looking for the roommate and found him instead and took out their anger on him.”
Maudlin hopes people will take a close look at the surveillance video.
“There’s two of them. If someone has spoken to them and they’ve bragged about the offense — which sometimes people do that — I would love for that person to come forward and tell me,” Maudlin said.
Bagenda's background gave no personal clues for police. Except for the video, there is no public evidence.
Detective Maudlin knows it's going to take a bit of luck to unlock this murder.
“I'd rather be lucky than smart,” he said. “That’s all I'm asking is somebody give me a little bit of luck and let me run with it.”
Anyone who has information on the murder is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (214) 373-8477. A $5,000 reward is being offered.
For several of the cold cases, police are hanging their hopes for an arrest in the public's eyes and surveillance video. They are now turning to FOX 4's Shaun Rabb to help ‘Trackdown' the criminals.
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