DALLAS — The family of a teenage girl who was found murdered is concerned about what they’re describing as a broken promise from the City of Dallas.
This week, Shaquna Persley said she was advised a house is now being built on the lot where her daughter was killed back in 2017.
Shavon Randle, 13, was kidnapped from a family’s home in Lancaster. Days later the girl’s remains were found inside a boarded and vacant house on E. Kiest Boulevard in Dallas.
Community members began building a memorial around the structure they began describing as a "house of horrors." The City of Dallas ordered the house to be demolished shortly after finding Randle’s remains and those of Michael Titus, a young man linked to the kidnapping probe.
Persley said leaders and staff from the City of Dallas told her a tree or memorial plaque would be placed on the lot in honor of Randle.
“It kind of blew my mind, a little bit, to hear that they done actually built a house right there. After what I had been promised that they was going to do, far as in remembrance of Shavon,” Persley said Thursday.
Developers have built a four-bedroom home on the lot where Randle was killed. The same property where the City of Dallas promised to place the memorial for Randle nearly six years ago.
“It really kind of makes me feel like they just forgot about my baby. That’s really how I feel, like, ok, did y’all remember what y’all promised us,” Persley explained.
According to Dallas County records, the empty E. Kiest Boulevard lot was sold to a builder in July 2022. City records show a building permit was later granted in October 2022, five years after the demolition.
So far, the City of Dallas has not responded to inquiries nor requests for comment about the promises for a memorial on the lot.
Persley also said she never received updates from the city after repeated calls in years prior. She said several staff members took her number, saying they’d have someone get back to her.
“I just want what we was promised. You know, I want something there for my baby,” Persley said.