Father of murdered teen speaks out about dangers of social media

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - The father of a murdered Lamar High School student is speaking out about the warning signs that led up to his son’s death.

The father of De’Lindsey Mack held a press conference Monday in hopes of educating other parents about protecting their kids in the age of social media.

“If you don’t get into your kids’ social media pages, you’ll be where I am,” said Dwight Mack, adding he had no idea what De’Lindsey was posting on his Instagram because he’s not on social media as a father.

De’Lindsey was gunned down last week a block from Lamar High School where he was a senior.

“Social media may not be your thing, but you better make it your thing, because that’s the way and that’s the world your child lives in,” said Dr. DZ Cofield, the family’s pastor.

Dr. Cofield spoke with De’Lindsey’s dad in the press conference at the family’s church, Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church.

They say after the 18-year-old’s death, they discovered how he was portraying himself on social media.

“Mr. Mack is a business owner,” said Cofield of De’Lindsey’s dad. “He has guns for his own protection. He has a business that is a large cash business, and so De’Lindsey would post a picture of him holding a bunch of cash with a gun, and would imply somehow that he is in some kind of illegal activity.”

The family says De’Lindsey was homeschooled for two years prior to attending Lamar High School for STAR testing. He’d also attended Yates High School briefly in 2016, according to Cofield.

This fall he was only attending classes until noon, then his dad’s driver would pick him up, said Cofield.

“Whoever was this angry at him got a pattern on where he was, and from that pattern they carried out this horrible crime,” said Mack.

De’Lindsey was murdered just after noon last Tuesday while walking to meet his driver after class.

The family says he was good kid from a good family in a good neighborhood, but he portrayed himself otherwise on social media.

“Anybody who knows and knew De’Lindsey would know him to be a big talker, but he was not a gangster,” said Cofield. “Here’s a father and here’s a mother who had no idea what he was posting.”

Police say they believe the murder was gang related. They’re still looking for the shooter and at least two people who were in the getaway car with the shooter.

De’Lindsey’s funeral will be at the family’s church Tuesday.