Race Day Live (Madison County, IL) – A 25-year-old Illinois man will serve several decades in prison for decapitating his nearly eight-month-pregnant girlfriend inside her house and tossing her head in a dumpster.
Madison County Circuit Court Associate Judge Neil Schroeder sentenced Deundrea S. Holloway to 60 years in state prison on Friday for the brutal murder of 22-year-old Liese A. Dodd and her unborn child in 2022, according to authorities.
Holloway had already pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child, and concealment of a homicidal death. He was sentenced to 30 years for murder, 20 for homicide, and 10 for concealment, all to be served consecutively.
The sentencing hearing concluded Holloway’s long-running prosecution after a court determined that he was mentally unfit to stand trial following an evaluation requested by his defense attorney.
Further obstacles in Holloway’s case included an Illinois Supreme Court judgment that stated that killing a mother and her unborn child cannot be considered multiple murders for the purpose of pursuing a life sentence.
“For the family and loved ones of Liese, these types of issues have caused continued angst and uncertainty. This guilty conviction ends that. Our hope is that this conviction and sentence provide the family and loved ones some assurance and will be a step toward healing,” Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine said in a statement announcing the sentence. “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.”
At around 12:59 p.m. on June 9, 2022, officers from the Alton Police Department responded to a 911 call at a residence in the 3400 block of Bolivar Street regarding a suspected murder. Dodd’s mother went to the house to check on her daughter, only to discover her decapitated body inside.
Dodd’s head was later found in a rubbish can outside her apartment building.
“What was observed, what was learned, what was found, was absolutely terrible,” then-Alton Police Chief Marcus Pulido said following Holloway’s arrest. “Every murder is absolutely terrible. I will never take that away. But what happened to 22-year-old Liese Dodd, who had just moved to Alton, is beyond reprehensible. It’s abominable. It is completely terrible what happened to her.”
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Pulido claimed that Holloway and Dodd had an “on-and-off dating relationship” for around two years before he killed her.
“She was savagely, savagely killed,” he continued. “She was decapitated. Decapitated by a freaking savage monster. Her unborn child was also killed as a result of this. So she was brutally murdered as well as her unborn child. This daughter, this mother-to-be, and her family were in the planning stages of a baby shower that was supposed to be at the end of June.”
Holloway must serve at least 52 years of his sentence before he is eligible for release.
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