BRETT’S STORY

Brett Adkins, 17, of Plano was trying to sell marijuana to two men in Irving when he was shot and killed, police say. DaMarcus Antwon Williams, 18, and Areon Trevon McDade, 19, both of Irving, are charged with capital murder in the death of Adkins. They are being held at the Dallas County jail with bail for each set at $1 million.
Irving police tracked down one of the suspects after finding his smartphone in the parking lot of Landry Elementary, where the shooting occurred. The other was identified with the help of a tip and video surveillance.
“This is not what I want my son to be remembered by,” Vicki Adkins said in an interview Wednesday. “He was so much bigger than that. He was better than that.” She and her husband, Bill Adkins have launched the Brett Adkins Charitable Foundation which will assist teens who struggle with substance abuse. Vicki Adkins said she hopes to help teenagers before it’s too late.
“We want to make a difference with kids who are headed down a bad path,” she said. “It’s not a matter of maybe or possibly. Your kids will get asked to do drugs.”

‘It was not going to be OK’

When Brett was 13, his parents caught him experimenting with pot. They punished him and sent him to a residential treatment center in Utah.

“It was not going to be OK for him to do that,” Adkins said. “Our son was raised in a Christian home. He was taught the difference between right and wrong.”

Last fall, his parents signed him up for a boarding school in Arizona, but Brett protested. He called home often, saying he was depressed and sick, that he missed his family and wanted to come home.

His parents agreed, and they pulled him out of the boarding school in November. At Plano West Senior High, Vicki Adkins said, his classmates knew him as funny, respectful and a good friend.

“That kid had the biggest heart, generous,” she said. “We gave him a lot, but he had some decisions to make.”

‘Just give me it all’

Did she know he was using drugs? Maybe. There were some signs, she said.

Did she know he was selling drugs?

“No, no, not at all,” Adkins said. “It wasn’t like Brett needed to make money.”

The family returned from an international vacation on Dec. 23 and slept in the next morning. They watched football and talked about their plans for Christmas Day. Brett was excited to go to a relative’s house for a steak and lobster Christmas dinner.

He and his girlfriend left his parents’ Plano home and visited a friend’s home, where Vicki Adkins says her son posted on Snapchat about selling marijuana.

According to a probable cause affidavit released by police Tuesday,  he headed with his girlfriend to Landry Elementary School  in Irving, to make a sale.
When they arrived in the parking lot, one suspect stood at the driver’s side door of Adkins’ car. The other climbed into the back seat and asked to look at the drugs, the affidavit stated.

When Brett showed them the marijuana, the man at the car door pulled out a handgun and said, “Just give me it all,” the affidavit stated.

Brett tried to talk with the men. At one point, the man in the back crawled over the front seat, and he and Brett both got out of the car, the affidavit stated. A fight broke out among the three, according to the affidavit.

Vicki Adkins says Brett’s girlfriend said he had his hands up and said, “just take it” moments before he was shot once in the chest.The two men ran off after the shooting.  As police processed the crime scene, they found a black iPhone that was traced to McDade. A juvenile later interviewed by police identified Williams as one of the suspects. The juvenile provided police with information that was corroborated by video surveillance, according to the affidavit.

When the hospital called her at home about her son’s injury, Adkins said she and her husband rushed to Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Grapevine. Brett died there early Christmas morning.

“I just kept believing I was going to get my Christmas miracle because that’s my faith,” she said. “Once he saw heaven, he didn’t want to come back.”

‘His life will not be in vain’

Now, the grieving mother is hoping her son’s memory can help others. She wants his legacy to stretch beyond his short life.

“Make no mistake, his life will not be in vain,” she said. “Sometimes the last person you’d think has the biggest impact.”

She and her husband are still in the early stages of planning the charitable foundation. Their family had the resources to send Brett to a treatment facility, Vicki Adkins said. Other families aren’t as fortunate. She wants to use his memory to help those teens handle their problems.

“Don’t ignore it. Talk about it. Follow through. Drug test. Check their phone. Get around good friends that love you,” she said. “This isn’t a show or a movie. It’s real.”