“Always together”: The two killed in the West Dallas shooting were inseparable and lived like brothers

This story is part of The Dallas Morning News Murder Project focused on sharing the stories of all the people killed in Dallas in 2024.

Jon'Tavion Allen had jet-black waves in his hair. The girls stared at him.

Look at your hair! Come here, come with us!

Then a bald spot appeared. Jon'Tavion did the only sensible thing a young adult could do: he shaved his head.

Jeriyous Wright, 17, and Jon'Tavion, 20, lived like brothers for nearly a decade. They were inseparable. Neighbors at the Villa Creek Apartments in West Dallas said when Jon'Tavion was there, Jeriyous wasn't far away.

They boxed, played soccer and basketball, or ran around the complex with the neighborhood kids. When Jeriyous did his silly dance routines, Jon'Tavion watched with his bright white “Kool-Aid smile.”

Jeriyous loved Jon'Tavion, so of course he shaved his head too.

And every few months, when the down grew back, they shaved together.

***

Jon'Tavion was about 5'3″ tall, but swore to everyone that he was 5'7″. One time a friend was drowning in a swimming pool and Jon'Tavion dove in after him. (Jon'Tavion also couldn't swim.)

His grandmother, Sheryl Whitmill, described him as a “vampire,” a boy who came alive at night. He would stay up watching movies, remodeling his room, or cooking – and eating – a whole pack of bacon.

Jon'Tavion forgot to add water to the instant noodles twice. The first time, they caught fire in the microwave.

As a child, Jon'Tavion was paid $20 by Whitmill to raid the cafeteria of the VA hospital where she worked for candy. He was “Lil Smooth” with a video game controller, said his mother, Catoniya Bowen. Skittles and video games were his vices.

Jon'Tavion and Whitmill always drove together to the Alfred D. Hughes Unit near Gatesville, about 110 miles southwest of Dallas. There, Jon'Tavion visited his father, Jason Allen, who is serving a 60-year sentence for murder. Jon'Tavion and his father had typical father-son conversations about school, work, friends – how not to impregnate a girl.

“Are you okay?” Whitmill asked Jon'Tavion as they left the prison.

“I'm fine,” he said. He remained calm for the rest of the ride back.

Whitmill wishes she had fought back harder. Are you okay? What's wrong? Talk to me. She knew that Allen's imprisonment was weighing on Jon'Tavion.

***

Jeriyous was a comedian, a joker. When he saw Donte Royal, his voice would jump an octave, to a high, boyish note. Uncle! Uncle! Uncle! It was like he was a big kid again, Royal said.

Everyone called Jeriyous “Rah-Rah.” His favorite song was “Dirty Diana” by Michael Jackson.

He won dance competitions – Rah-Rah knew all the viral TikTok moves.

“Anthony, make a TikTok,” he urged his best friend Anthony Williams.

“Nah, I don’t swing my hips,” Williams scoffed.

Williams completed Jeriyous and Jon'Tavion's “Three Stooges” or “Three Musketeers” dynamic, he said. If Jeriyous or Jon'Tavion wanted to go around the block to Jerry's Market, Williams followed them.

He spent day and night with Rah-Rah and Jon'Tavion at Bowen's apartment until they were kicked out for being too loud or sneaking away. Rah-Rah usually tried a few times to sneak out and meet girls, but failed. The girls liked Rah-Rah because of his light skin, tattoos and grill – a “ghetto rapper fantasy,” Williams said.

When a third of the trio left, they said: I love you. I love you, make it up to you.

***

According to a police report, Jon'Tavion and Jeriyous met with two people in the parking lot of the Villa Creek Apartments to buy drugs on the evening of January 16. Ethyn Leang, 18, drove to the meeting point in his gray Lexus. Francisco Herrera, 20, sat in the back seat and was allegedly armed with a gun for his protection.

Jon'Tavion or Jeriyous wanted to see the goods. Leang wanted to see the money. One of the boys pointed a gun at him, and as Leang tried to speed away, they jumped into the car, Leang told police.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Leang had an accident and fled. He was shot and injured.

According to the police report, Leang stepped back and fired one shot.

Bang.

“Frankie, get out!” someone shouted.

According to an affidavit for the arrest warrant against Herrera, police found seven shell casings. Six of them came from the same gun. A gun was found under Jon'Tavion. Tests showed that it had not fired any shots.

Ethyn Leang and Francisco Herrera were arrested and face capital crimes charges. Both were released from the Dallas County Jail earlier this year after posting $50,000 bail, the sheriff's office said. They did not appear in court records.

“None of us are saints,” Bowen said of her son and Jeriyous, “but for the most part I can say they were loved and they knew how to show it.”

***

The boys had a joint funeral.

“They were always together,” Bowen said, “I had no intention of separating them.”

Jon'Tavion's urn, a nearly 2-foot-tall, modernist Eternal Flame made of black aluminum, stands on a display case in the corner. Half of his ashes are here, the other half with his grandmother. Next to it, on a Vans shoe box, is a matching, small keepsake urn for Jeriyous.

“This is crazy,” Williams teased.

“They’re just chilling next to each other.”