Sitting with the Burks family, it is easy to see and feel the emotional drain of the past five years. Wiping away tears, Timothy Burks spoke with ABC13 about his youngest son, Dantrell.
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"He would always put a smile on your face. I couldn't see a day where he was upset about anything," Timothy Burks said.
Described as the good kid, always making friends and bringing people together, this family was stunned the night Dantrell was killed.
Houston police say the 21-year-old was found on March 21, 2016. They said he was shot while riding his bicycle on the sidewalk along Northborough Drive near Greens Bayou.
At the time, investigators said they had no witnesses and only a few leads. But his family refused to give up hope and instead, they made calls, followed rumors and tried to generate tips for investigators.
All of that led to dead ends.
"We were just on a wild goose chase," said Dantrell's aunt, Angela Burks. "I was like, 'I guess they probably just put him to the side with the other cold cases.'"
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But detectives with the Houston Police Department now say they have the man who has confessed to Dantrell's murder.
"My prayers have been answered because I really wanted to know why, why did he do that to my son?" said Timothy Burks.
The alleged killer is Chris Roddy, who is currently in jail for a sexual assault charge.
Detectives said they were reexamining a cold case from 2017 and decided to meet with Roddy in jail. It was during that meeting they say he confessed to the 2017 death of Kithy Pagett and then admitted to another murder, that of Dantrell Burks.
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"I am so happy that he had it in his heart to go and confess, to go and just tell the truth," said Angela Burks.
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Detectives say Roddy told them he saw Burks riding his bicycle on the sidewalk when he shot and killed him.
A little more than a year later, detectives said Roddy admitted to killing Kithy Pagett in her apartment on April 24, 2017. The single mother was found with severe head trauma. Her two-year-old daughter was found unharmed in the apartment.
The two murders happened on the same block just 13 months apart.
Roddy is now in jail for five cases including the two murders and a sexual assault. His bonds total more than $1 million.
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