Updated at 9 a.m. Wednesday to reflect trial is resuming.
The cousin of Shavon Randle testified Tuesday that she didn’t immediately call police after the 13-year-old was kidnapped because she feared the girl would be killed.
Dallas County prosecutors say Shavon was kidnapped by a group of men in retaliation after $250,000 in marijuana was stolen from them.
Desmond Jones, 24, is charged with aggravated kidnapping in connection with Shavon's disappearance.
She was found dead days later in an abandoned house in Oak Cliff along with the body of 19-year-old Michael Titus, who is believed to have been involved in the kidnapping.
Jones is the first of multiple suspects to go on trial in Dallas County in connection with Shavon's disappearance and death. No one has been charged with murder in Shavon's death.
In an interview with the FBI, Jones admitted he served as the lookout when Shavon was taken from her aunt’s home.
After the girl was taken, her cousin, Ledoris Randle, started receiving threatening phone calls.
At one point, the kidnappers called Randle from Shavon’s phone.
“They was like, ‘You better not get the police involved. Bring us our drugs,’” Randle testified Tuesday.
Randle testified that she didn’t immediately call police after the threats started.
“I felt like if we didn’t tell the police, it would help her,” Randle said.
Randle’s family eventually called police and told them about the threatening calls. But Shavon’s cousin didn’t explain why the kidnappers took the girl.
Randle’s boyfriend, Kendall Perkins, was one of the men involved in the drug theft at a motel. She testified that she didn’t tell authorities the full story because she "was scared.”
Perkins faces an aggravated robbery charge in connection with the case.
FBI agent Jennifer Mullican said Shavon was kidnapped to send a message after the drug robbery.
"In this narcotics trafficking world, you can't be seen as a punk," she said.
Mullican said the kidnapping was likely to show people "not to mess" with Darius Fields, the alleged ringleader.
Fields was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison in May on three federal weapons charges.
Devontae Owens, 27, and Laquon Wilkerson, 33, are each charged with one count of felony aggravated kidnapping in connection with Shavon's death. Their cases have not yet gone to trial.
Another suspect, 28-year-old LaPorshya Polley, was sentenced last year to four years in prison for making false statements to a gun dealer in order to acquire two weapons for a convicted felon. She's scheduled to be released in November.
Day Two of the trial:
Day One of the trial:
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