Woman, 18, who led a smitten teen to his horrific death is convicted of his murder and now faces dying behind bars

An 18-year-old woman who led a boy who had a crush on her to a horrific death has been convicted of his murder and now faces dying behind bars.

Keona Mouton, 18, was found guilty on Tuesday and charged as an adult in the heinous shooting death of Delindsey Mack, 18, on November 2018. She was the final suspect in the heinous murder of the promising teen.

Investigators said Mouton, who was 16 at the time, knew Mack liked her and left school with him as part of a set up. After receiving a text from Kendrick Johnson, 19, she lured him to a specific location where he was shot seven times. 

Prosecutors with the district attorney's office said they believe Mouton helped plan the murder before Mack was shot dead by Johnson, described as the mastermind behind the hit, Fox 26 Houston reported. 

Mack had transferred to Lamar High School in River Oaks area after escaping the gang violence from Yates High School, approximately 20 minutes away, to be in a safer environment.

In August 2019, Mouton was arrested on a murder charge.  

Johnson, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, was sentenced in 2021 by a jury and given life in prison. The getaway driver, Dave'on Thomas, 18 was also convicted and given 50 years behind bars. 

Investigators said they believed Mack belonged to a rival Third Ward gang.

At the time of his sentencing Johnson had participated in at least seven murders. 

Houston District Attorney Kim Ogg said, 'it is hard to believe somebody this young could be this vicious, but the evidence showed he loved to kill and our streets and social media were his playground.'

'He seemed to be striving for celebrity status in the gang world by killing as many people as possible.'

Mack's distraught father shared that his son was an outstanding athlete and played football at Yates. 

He explained that his son had an 'alternate persona' on social media and acted as if he was a gang member out of fear but that may have put a target on his back, KHOU News reported. 

The family's pastor, Pastor D.Z. Cofield said Mack parents had no idea their son was posting on social media.

'Delindsey wasn't a gangster, I called him Baby Huey. He was a soft kid,' the pastor said.

'He wanted to be hard. Knows a lot of hard people growing up in the inner city… but in terms of those relationships being a part of his life and shaping his character, that wasn't the kind of kid he was.'

'It used to be a time in my day that someone had to do something to a person physically,' Mack's father shared. 'But these are simple words and pictures that has brought this to this point. It's a sad day.'

Mack was affectionately know as 'Poppy' his grandmother Dell Tatum told KHOU 11 News. She said he was set to graduate in December 2018, a month after he was killed.

Mack's grandmother Dell Tatum told KHOU 11 that the grandson everyone called 'Poppy' would have graduated a month after he was gunned down.