A carjacking-turned-shooting case from last summer concluded on Feb. 3, with attorneys presenting opposing arguments on whether defendant Dalen Daqwon Randall attempted to kill the man accused of stealing his mother’s vehicle last summer.
Randall, 24, is charged with attempted murder, assault and three gun violations in connection to the shooting, which occurred at a gas station located on the 2800 block of Edmondson Avenue, shortly after 1 a.m. on June 5, 2025.
The victim reportedly stole Randall’s mother’s gray Infiniti coupe earlier that day, leading Randall to track it down to the station and fire eight times into it, striking the victim. The shooting left a dent in the vehicle and a headlight that was out on May 19, 2025, when an officer had previously stopped Randall apparently in the same vehicle.
“This was not an act of protection,” said the prosecution. “Her son goes all cowboy, and she doesn’t get her car back.”
Defense attorneys Hudson Lee Miller and David Benjamin Shapiro claimed the state failed to meet its burden of proof, arguing a lack of physical or video evidence linking Randall to the shooting. Officers had previously testified they could not discern a handgun in the footage recovered from the scene of the crime, and defense counsel said investigators failed to recover substantial evidence from Randall’s home.
Miller and Shapiro maintained that “circumstantial evidence alone would not be sufficient” to prove Randall’s guilt.
In rebuttal, the prosecution argued that ballistic and blood evidence recovered from the scene all offered “reasonable inference” pointing toward Randall’s involvement in the shooting.
The jury is currently deliberating.
