Prairie View Transfer Student Killed in Botched Drug Deal

Prairie View police are working to identify two suspects in what they now believe to be a botched drug deal that left a Prairie View A&M University student dead on Tuesday.

Darius LeCompte, a 24-year-old biology student from Missouri City, was found with three gunshot wounds in a pickup truck around 9:15 p.m. in the 200 block of West University Drive. Prairie View Police Chief Anthony Solomon said LeCompte was driving the truck when he crossed University and crashed in a nearby Subway parking lot. He had been living near the Prairie View A&M campus since transferring from Texas Southern University a few weeks ago. His family said he only needed a few more semesters of classes to graduate. Before the move to Prairie View, he worked for a railroad company and lived with his mother in Missouri City, Nikki said.He said witnesses saw two people get out of the vehicle and flee the scene.

Inside the truck, police found marijuana and around $200 in cash, which led them to believe it was a drug deal gone wrong, Solomon said. Solomon said his department, as well as the Texas Rangers, are investigating the case as a homicide. No arrests have been made.

She said she raised Darius in the home after moving there from Louisiana when he was two months old. She had most recently been living there with her two daughters and grandson.  Then, last Thursday, Aug. 30, the fire left all of their belongings destroyed beyond repair. “I don’t have anything from inside my house,” she said. Despite the damage to the home, Nikki said she is trying to organize a candlelight vigil in the driveway around 6:30 p.m. Saturday evening. The home is located in the 6600 block of Laughlin Drive.

Police found a Prairie View A&M student ID on him and a campus parking pass in his truck. Officials say LeCompte was shot by someone inside his vehicle. Police added the area where the shooting took place has had problems in the past. Last year, a student was shot on the same street after a party by a former student.

Carolyn Simpson was inside the minivan that was hit. She was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. “I was trapped in there and I detected a smell like gas and it could have exploded,” Simpson told ABC13.