DALLAS (KRLD) - A new set of indictments and far more serious accusations in the case of a murdered 13-year old Lancaster girl mention the word "murder" for the first time. The indictments include three men who were previously accused of aggravated kidnapping in the case of Shavon Randle, and a fourth already locked up in federal prison.
Laquon Wilkerson, Desmond Jones, Devontae Owens and Darius Fields each face a charge of engaging in organized criminal activity in the June 2017 abduction and murders of Shavon Randle and Michael Titus.
Each indictment contains language that accuses the men of "Murder, in that Defendant did then and there intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual, namely SHAVON RANDLE, by SHOOTING SHAVON RANDLE WITH A FIREARM."
It is the first time state court documents have connected the men to Randle's murder.
The 13-year old was walking along a Lancaster street when she was kidnapped. Her body and the body of Titus were later found in an abandoned Oak Cliff house. In prior court procedings, it has been disclosed the abduction was in retaliation for stolen marijuana. In two federal court cases, Fields and LaPorshya Polley were convicted of gun charges in the stolen pot case. They are serving sentences of 17 years and 4 years respectively.
The new indictments carry the same penalty as the prior charge of aggravated kidnapping, life with the possibility of parole, but appear to give the prosecution easier elements to prove in court by linking the men to gang activity.
"To prove their case they are allowed, because of that particular charge, pretty broad ability to put in other offenses to prove they're a gang and prove that underlying offense of murder," said Toby Shook, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor who is not affiliated with the case.