Grief-stricken mother Dahlia Mack lashed out at the woman who lured her teenage son to his death in a Houston court on Aug. 6.
“I hate you. Look at me! You disgust me. You should have been flushed rather than birthed,” Dahlia told her son’s killer, Keona Samireal Mouton, in a victim impact statement in court, reported KHOU 11. “Don’t you dare cry. Those shackles on your ankles, that’s Delindsey Mack,” said the grieving mother as the rest of the Mack family kept their heads down, overwhelmed with emotion.
Her son, Delindsey, was a high school senior who loved playing football and had recently transferred to a new school to escape gang activity when he met a classmate, Keona Mouton, then 16, and developed a crush. Mouton persuaded Delindsey — nicknamed “Baby Huey” by family friends for his “soft” nature — to meet her after school on Nov. 13, 2018. Instead, Mouton led him into a brutal ambush, where he was fatally shot seven times by two men.
Delindsey’s grandmother told reporters that he was just one month shy of high school graduation when he was killed.
Mouton, now 22, was tried as an adult and sentenced to 23 years behind bars. She was one of three perpetrators to be convicted so far, and Delindsey’s family has sat through all three murder trials and all three convictions, reported KHOU11. One shooter, who is still unidentified, remains on the loose.
“This was not just an ambush, but an execution that was planned and carried out by several people, and we want to hold all of them responsible to get justice for the victim and his family,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in an Aug. 7 press release.
The first to be tried was Kendrick Johnson, a known gang member who was given a life sentence in 2021 for his role in Mack’s murder. He was already connected to six previous murders, and according to Ogg, “He seemed to be striving for celebrity status in the gang world by killing as many people as possible,” reported ABC 13.
Dave’on Thomas, whom Ogg identified as the getaway driver, was sentenced in 2023 to 50 years in prison in connection with the deadly shooting.
Prosecutors say Delindsey cultivated a gangster image on social media that was far from the truth in real life. He was murdered steps away from his high school, and prosecutors believe his social media posts led to him being targeted and caught in the crosshairs of two warring Houston gangs.
“Anyone who knows or knew Delindsey would know him to be a big talker, but he was not a gangster. … Delindsey had an alternative persona where he presented himself to be something that he was not,” remarked his pastor, D.Z. Cofield at the time of his death in a press conference.
Delindsey’s parents kept strict curfews and were described as always “supporting their child,” but they were not aware of his social media persona until after the shooting.
Prosecutors submitted deleted incriminating text messages from Mouton as proof of her scheme to fake a relationship with Delindsey and lure him to his death.
“Delindsey Mack’s parents put him in the one place that children should be safe, but Keona Mouton pulled all the strings to make his murder happen,” noted Assistant District Attorney Sarah Seely.
Mouton was tried as an adult and will be eligible for parole after serving at least half of her 23-year sentence.
