BY: LBS STAFF
Published 4 hours ago
Deundrea Holloway’s parents described his actions as “monstrous” but clarified that he is “not a monster.” They noted that he hears voices, one of which “tells him bad things,” and that the family had been attempting to seek help for him for at least three years.
More than two-and-a-half years after the shocking death of Liese Dodd, 22, in Alton, Illinois, her alleged killer has learned his fate. Deundrea Holloway, 25, pleaded guilty to Dodd’s murder by decapitation.
Madison County State’s Attorney Tim Haine announced the sentencing in a press release shared to the State’s Attorney’s Office Facebook page after Holloway was sentenced on Friday in Madison County Circuit Court.
The sentence came following Holloway’s guilty plea on the charges of first-degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child and concealment of a homicidal death for the decapitation death of 8-month-pregnant Dodd. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
The sentence was a combination of 30 years for murder, 20 on homicide, and 10 for concealment, with the sentences to be served consecutively, as noted by Law & Crime. He further must serve 52 years before he’s eligible for early release.
Shortly after his arrest, Holloway’s stepfather spoke with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he stated that his stepson had heard “voices” for years. His mother said they’d been “trying to get him help for years, but have been denied.”
The Attorney’s Office statement notes that twice during Holloway’s trial, his defense questioned if he was fit to stand trial, “resulting in court-ordered psychological evaluations.” At one point, he was deemed mentally unfit, leading to him being treated at a state institution for months until he was deemed fit.
“For the family and loved ones of Liese, these types of issues have caused continued angst and uncertainty. This guilty conviction ends that,” said Haine in the statement. “Our hope is that this conviction and sentence provide the family and loved ones some assurance and will be a step toward healing.”
Haine also stated, “This case has been difficult for everyone. Obviously, it has been traumatic for Liese’s family. With this resolution, they were spared the additional trauma associated with a trial. My heart goes out to the family, whose strength, courage and resiliency during this process have been truly remarkable.”
Holloway’s Parents Speak
After Alton Police Chief Marcos Pulido referred to Holloway as a “freaking savage monster” in a since-deleted video shared to the department’s Facebook page, his parents pushed back in an interview with the Post-Dispatch.
Stepfather Christopher J. Hawk said Holloway heard “three voices who speak to him.” He went on to explain, “One is Ruth, and that one is bad,” he said, “She tells him who he can and can’t trust. She tells him bad things.”
His mom Carla Hawk said they kept getting denied in their efforts to help her son “because the system says we can’t force a person his age to get help.”
She added, “We never stopped fighting. What has happened to our son is horrific and could have been prevented if the system would have put him in a facility to get on medication and learn how to use coping skills properly and learn how to identify when something is triggering for him.”
The two also said Holloway refused to take medication — and said he threatened to kill his mother and sister in 2021, leading to her getting a temporary restraining order she ultimately didn’t re-up.
Even as they were describing their son’s purported mental health issues, Christopher shared his condolences to the Dodd family. “I cannot imagine what you must be going through,” he said in a video he shared to social media. “I am sorry. I am a million times sorry.”
“I’m not going to deny what happened was an extreme act of evil. It was, I don’t know how else to explain it. I don’t know if there is a word that describes it. Over here, we are ashamed,” he continued.
“His mom, his sister were all shocked. We knew he was capable of violence, but we never saw this. We’ve been trying to get help for him for at least three years. As far as longer-term mental care, we were always been told that we can’t hold them unless they’ve done something. Now he is being held because he’s done something.”
“Our system fails people with mental problems. People are kind of left on their own. It’s a tragic situation,” he continued.
“The fact that he did an act of evil does not mean he’s a monster. He’s a human being and we need to start treating people like human beings,” he continued, specifically calling out Pulido’s statement.
He concluded, “I’m not arguing that D didn’t do this. I know he did. We really need to take mental health seriously or we’re never going to see an end to this thing.”
Dodd’s Decapitation Murder
Holloway was picked up about 45 minutes from Alton by the Gillespie Police Department after a call about a stolen bicycle. He was initially placed under arrest for theft, but refused to identify himself. When he was transferred to Macoupin County Jail, he was identified and linked to the murder.
He was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of intentional homicide of an unborn child, one count of dismembering a human body, concealment of homicidal death and motor vehicle offenses.
In the sentencing press release, the State’s Attorney’s Office noted that he was only convicted of one murder as “the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that an unborn child cannot be construed as a second murder victim for purposes of seeking a sentence of life in prison.”
Liese Dodd, 22, was found dead in her home by her mother on June 9, 2022. Her mother had been planning her daughter’s baby shower for later that month; the child was due in July. Holloway discarded her head in a dumpster just outside her apartment building, per local authorities says CBS affiliate KMOV.
According to police, Dodd and Holloway had been in an “on-and-off dating relationship” for about two years, according to Police Chief Pulido.
“She was savagely, savagely killed. She was decapitated. Decapitated by a freaking savage monster,” said Pulido in that since-removed video. “Her unborn child was also killed as a result of this. So she was brutally murdered as well as her unborn child.”
Shortly after her death, Dodd’s mother, Heidi Noel, called her daughter “a bright light that cared for everyone” and someone who “had a big heart” and would “go out of her way to help people.
“She had attended college and was planning on going into the medical field,” added Noel, who added that the whole family was “just excited and gathering the items you need to have a baby.”
After Holloway’s sentencing, Noel told Fox affiliate KTVI, “This is a tragic outcome of a two-year on-and-off again domestic violence relationship. This didn’t have to end this way; my daughter should be here raising her toddler.”
“If you have a mental instability or mental illness, seek treatment and be consistent with your treatment,” she continued. “Understand that your condition or illness will not keep you from being held accountable for the crimes you commit.”
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages; Calls are confidential and toll-free.
via: TooFab
