David Noel Pleasant, a 19-year-old Black man from Little Elm, Texas, was a former student at Lone Star High School. Friends remembered him as a bubbly, charismatic, and funny person with a beautiful and unique personality who could walk into any room and instantly make the atmosphere better.
On the afternoon of February 3, 2023, Pleasant went to a playground area in a cul-de-sac near the 200 block of Paladin Place in Little Elm.
According to police reports, he was there to purchase marijuana and mushrooms. Surveillance video from a nearby home showed a gray Volkswagen pull up, and Pleasant got into the back seat. A few minutes later, he exited the car and began running toward the playground. The driver then got out of the car, ran to the rear of the vehicle to get a clear shot, and fired twice, striking Pleasant. He was found bleeding from his head at the bottom of a set of stairs.
First responders transported Pleasant to a hospital in Plano, where he was found to have no brain activity. He was removed from life support and died the next morning, February 4, 2023. Investigators found two spent 9mm shell casings at the scene. Using information from an Instagram account used to set up the meeting, police identified one of the suspects. They located the Volkswagen and later observed the suspect getting into a truck with another person. A police pursuit ended when the truck crashed, and two individuals who fled on foot were taken into custody.
The suspects were identified as Alec Adamson, then 17, and Mason Schiller, then 18, both students from Prosper. According to court records, they told police they had intended to sell drugs to Pleasant but claimed he began hitting them, at which point Adamson shot him. Both were arrested and their initial charges of aggravated assault were upgraded to murder. Bond was set at $1 million for each.
Mason Schiller later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and testified for the prosecution. In February 2024, Alec Adamson went to trial in Denton County on a first-degree murder charge. He pleaded not guilty, and his defense team argued that he had acted under duress, claiming Pleasant was attempting a “strong-arm” robbery and that the gun was fired inside the car during a struggle. Prosecutors contended the shooting was senseless, arguing that Pleasant was already running away and posed no immediate threat when he was shot from outside the vehicle. The case was in litigation as of February 2024.
