What began as an argument over a missing purse ended with Weldon “Glen” Liscum III fatally shot, a discarded truck, and a gun sold for $40. The case later produced two trials and two different verdicts.
The confrontation began with a missing purse.
By the time it ended on April 27, 2008, a Taser had been displayed, a baseball bat and cane had entered the standoff, a handgun had jammed, and Weldon “Glen” Liscum III had been fatally shot outside a trailer on East Malloy Bridge Road.
The legal case that followed would last for years. Kielle Dromone McNeal was initially convicted of murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison. That conviction was later set aside, however, and a second jury convicted him of the lesser offense of manslaughter and sentenced him to 26 years.
Detailed accounts of the shooting appear in opinions issued by the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The records preserve competing versions of a chaotic confrontation in which McNeal admitted firing the fatal shot but disputed why and how it happened.
An Argument Over a Missing Purse
The events unfolded at a three-bedroom trailer at 338 East Malloy Bridge Road, according to the appellate record.
Liscum lived there with his fiancée, Julie Humes, trailer owner Bobby Coppinger and Chris Agnew. Franklin “Doug” Ruff, a friend of Liscum, was also present. McNeal’s girlfriend, Rachael Pickard, and Coppinger’s sister, Melynda Dickey, had spent the previous night at the trailer.
Pickard testified that she discovered her purse was missing and suspected Dickey had taken it. After Pickard told McNeal about the purse, the two returned to the trailer.
Pickard and Dickey argued. McNeal and Liscum then became involved in a separate confrontation that moved outside.
Humes testified that she warned McNeal to leave and activated a Taser to emphasize the warning. Witnesses said McNeal eventually got into a truck and drove away after repeatedly declaring that he would return.
That departure created a break in the confrontation—but not its end.
McNeal Returned With a Gun
Pickard testified that McNeal traveled to the home of a friend, retrieved a handgun and returned to the trailer about 20 to 30 minutes later.
Several witnesses said McNeal was holding or displaying the gun after stepping out of the truck. Liscum had obtained a baseball bat. Agnew came outside carrying a cane.
The accounts differed on some details, including whether Liscum was still holding the bat when he was shot and whether the gun fired more than once.
Humes testified that McNeal pointed the handgun at her and pulled the trigger, but the weapon jammed. She said he worked the gun’s slide and ejected a cartridge before she ran toward the trailer.
Agnew testified that he saw McNeal point the gun at Liscum and shoot him. Ruff also told jurors he witnessed the shooting.
Police recovered one spent shell casing and one unfired cartridge at the scene. The physical evidence indicated that one shot had been fired, according to the 2011 appellate opinion.
Liscum suffered a gunshot wound to the chest. Paramedics treated him at the trailer, but he died while being transported to a hospital.
After the shooting, Agnew chased the departing truck and struck it with his cane.
Conflicting Accounts of Self-Defense
McNeal acknowledged shooting Liscum but presented a different account of the final confrontation.
He testified that people at the trailer had directed racial slurs toward him and that Liscum approached him with the baseball bat raised. McNeal said he feared for his life.
His testimony about the gunshot was not entirely consistent. At one point, he said the gun discharged after he cleared the jam. He later testified that he fired intentionally because Liscum was approaching with the bat.
Other witnesses testified that McNeal had returned after being told to leave, arrived armed and pointed the weapon at people outside the trailer. Humes testified that Liscum no longer had the bat when he was shot.
Those conflicting accounts left jurors to decide whether McNeal reasonably acted in self-defense—or whether returning to the property with a gun undermined that claim.
The Gun Was Sold for $40
McNeal’s actions after the shooting became another significant part of the prosecution’s case.
He testified that he left Seagoville without contacting police. After learning that someone had died, McNeal sold the handgun for $40 and used the money to purchase beer and cocaine.
He also sold his cellphone because he believed police might be monitoring his conversations.
Investigators found the truck used during the shooting abandoned at a Texas Department of Health and Human Services parking lot less than a mile from the scene. Acting on information from an informant, officers later arrested McNeal at a friend’s home without incident.
The First Conviction Was Overturned
A Dallas County jury convicted McNeal of murder in 2010 and sentenced him to 50 years in prison. The jury also imposed a $2,500 fine.
The Fifth Court of Appeals affirmed that judgment in June 2011, concluding that the evidence was sufficient for the jury to reject McNeal’s self-defense claim.
But that was not the end of the case.
In October 2014, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted McNeal relief based on ineffective assistance of counsel. The court said his trial attorney failed to adequately explain the applicable law, did not reasonably consult with McNeal about his options and pursued an unreasonable defensive strategy.
McNeal had maintained that the shooting was accidental, but his attorney pursued self-defense and did not request an instruction allowing jurors to consider a lesser-included offense.
The Court of Criminal Appeals set aside the murder judgment and returned McNeal to Dallas County for further proceedings.
Second Jury Returned Manslaughter Verdict
McNeal was reindicted and went to trial again in August 2015.
This time, jurors did not convict him of murder. They found him guilty of manslaughter, a lesser-included offense, and assessed a 26-year prison sentence. The judgment also included a finding that McNeal used a deadly weapon.
McNeal appealed again, arguing in part that he had been denied a speedy trial and that jurors received an incorrect instruction concerning parole eligibility.
The Fifth Court of Appeals acknowledged that part of the parole instruction was erroneous but found that the mistake had not caused the level of harm required to reverse the judgment. The court affirmed the manslaughter conviction and 26-year sentence in November 2016.
The final legal outcome therefore differs substantially from the case’s original disposition: McNeal’s 50-year murder conviction was vacated, and the surviving judgment was a 26-year sentence for manslaughter.
What never changed was the central fact underlying both trials: an argument over a missing purse escalated, McNeal left and returned with a handgun, and Liscum was killed by a gunshot to the chest. The weapon used to end his life was later sold for $40.
