Police say secrets in small Texas town keeping killer of 19-year-old free

TRINITY, Texas (FOX 26) - If he was still alive, La’Kendrick Simmons would have just turned 28. Instead of watching her son blow out candles or open gifts, Simmons’ mother Mary Stubblefield spends his birthdays at his grave site. It’s something she’s done since his murder in 2008.

“It’s very hard to visit your son in the graveyard,” Stubblefield said.

“We don’t have a lot of crime,” said Trinity Police Chief Steve Jones. “We’re a small community of about 2,400 people.”

And there are some folks in the small town of Trinity who’ve been keeping a dark secret for too long.

“There are people here that know exactly what happened,” Jones said.

The chief says Simmons was staying at a house known for drug dealing.

“It wasn’t his house he wasn’t tied to the criminal activity,” Jones said. “He was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The other people inside the house told police three African American males stormed in and shot Simmons in the chest.

“I’m living in a town where people know or most people know what happened to my son and they’re not speaking up,” Stubblefield said.

“The only thing I want before I leave this earth is to know what happened to my son,” Stubblefield said. “This is like truly killing me on the inside.”

Anyone with information about Simmons’ murder is urged to contact the Trinity Police Department, Trinity County Crime Stoppers or call any DPS office and ask to speak to the Texas Ranger assigned to Trinity County.