Family seeks justice after escaped juvenile killed in Shawnee
SHAWNEE, Okla. (KFOR) — A mother demands justice after her son, who was an escaped juvenile from a detention center, was found killed Saturday in Shawnee.
"He doesn't deserve this, he doesn't," said Jolleen Shepard.
Shepard says her son was one of many teenagers who escaped the Scissor Tail Landing Detention Center in June. She said, she and other parents have been pushing officials to search for their kids.
"Somebody failed Dakota. They failed to protect him, provide safety for him, and care for him," said Shepard.
On Saturday morning, police said that a person was found stabbed to death near 600 N. Hobson. However, police didn't have a name for the victim or a potential suspect.
Shepard said that it was her son, 17-year-old Dakota Underwood.
"I would give anything to have him call me one more time and just for him to say hi Mom," said Shepard.
She said he was an incredible kid who had an amazing relationship with his older brother along with the rest of his family.
"He was a kid. He had goals that he never got to finish. He never got his driver's license; he never got to get married and have kids. He was an amazing music artist, he was an amazing rapper, he was an amazing singer. He had big dreams of telling his life story through his music," said Shepard.
She said she would do what she could to keep his dreams alive and his music from being forgotten.
"I would just want to hold him and keep him. Take him away from everywhere and just keep him right here," said Shepard.
Shepard said that Underwood was a part of the group of teenagers who escaped the facility in June.
The family of one of the kids emailed the news in early October begging for more to be done by officials in finding their son. That family told News 4 that he was found after their plea for help.
That family said they filed a grievance and the Oklahoma State Department of Health and Safety (OKDHS).
For Shepard, it seems almost too late. Wednesday she was taken in to confirm that the body they had was her son.
"I could hardly recognize him," said Shepard. "He was struggling and he shouldn't have had to live like that. He couldn't come home. So he said he had to do whatever he had to do. He could still laugh and joke about it. Anybody could count on him for anything that he said he would do. He was a great kid."
As of Wednesday afternoon, Shawnee police said that they do not have a suspect in Underwood's case but it was listed as a homicide.
Friends and family have created a link for funds to go towards helping the family, you can help here.