The Truth Shall Set Us Free Donyell Dewayne Holland My Story, On the Record
Message Donyell at www.gettingout.com · TDOC #248453 · Morgan County Correctional Complex | Questions? TTI (904) 362-0842

State of Tennessee v. Donyell Dewayne Holland

Life plus fifty.
This is the story ofDonyell Dewayne Holland

He has been fighting for his life since June 2020, more than six years now. Donyell maintains his innocence, and right now he is representing himself, pro se, in his appeal.

This is the case for Donyell’s innocence, made with the State’s own papers.

His court record is laid out here like a book, with 207 places where the State’s records disagree, go missing, or don’t add up.

How this book is laid out

1Who I Am1Chapter 1 · Who I Am
2What Happened2AThe Crime2BThe Witnesses2CWhat the State Said2DThe Evidence: Reports and Videos2EThe 207 Discrepancies2FThe Trial Court2GThe Appeals Court
3Where I’m Going3AThe Truth3BThe Road Home3CMy Journey3DHow You Can Help

Every page carries a code. 2Dc means Part 2, section D, page c.

Start the road: Chapter 1

or go anywhere you like — tap any part above.

Which address to use

donyellholland.com is Donyell’s full story and court record, told as a book. Share this one. freeddh.com opens the same site.

truthshallsetusfree.com is Donyell’s first site, the archive.

Message Donyell: go to www.gettingout.com (or the GettingOut app) · Donyell Dewayne Holland · TDOC #248453 · Morgan County Correctional Complex. How to write to him

In memory of Randall “Randy Savage” Leslie

“Randy was like my lil brother from another mother!I'm still mourning over his passing!! R.I.P. Randy Savage Love & Miss my lil brother”

Start here

The strongest documented issues

Each link opens the records behind it, with the source document named on the page.

The Verdict Versus the Evidence: count by countThe guns, the bullet and Item 177Gun evidence: the ATF letter and the NIBIN leadWhat the TBI lab foundMissing recordsRemoved during closing argumentsThe judgment and sentenceEvery discrepancy, side by side

The case in 60 seconds

  1. May 27, 2020Randall Leslie disappears in Chattanooga. See the record
  2. May 28, 2020Derik Brown is stopped in Coffee County driving Randall’s car. See the record
  3. June 9, 2020Police question Donyell and release him. The first indictment comes March 10, 2021. See the record
  4. June 21, 2020Randall’s body is found in Marion County. See the record
  5. May 2024Brown testifies for the State (trial transcript Vol. XIV, pp. 463–464, as cited in the State’s appellate brief, p. 44). A Hamilton County jury convicts Donyell. See the record
  6. October 25, 2024Donyell is sentenced to life plus fifty. See the record
  7. TodayDonyell is fighting his appeal on his own, pro se, in the Court of Criminal Appeals. See the record

Built backwards

They charged him first. The case came after.

Read the dates in order. Every one comes from the State’s own paperwork.

  1. May 28, 2020Derik Brown is stopped in Coffee County driving Randall’s car. See the record
  2. June 8, 2020, 9:03 PMDet. Stokes swears out search warrants for Stockton Drive and Teakwood Drive. Randall has not been found. See the record
  3. June 21, 2020Randall’s body is found in Marion County, thirteen days after the searches. See the record
  4. October 2020Item 177 is added to an evidence report that already said “END OF REPORT.” See the record
  5. October 30, 2020TBI: the blood in Randall’s car belongs to Unknown Male #1. The blood at Stockton belongs to Unknown Male #2. See the record
  6. January 12, 2021The bullet from Randall’s body goes to ATF filed under Brown’s name, together with Brown’s gun. No comparison result appears in any record we have reviewed. See the record
  7. March 10, 2021 · THE CHARGEDonyell is indicted for murder. Everything below came after the charge. See the record
  8. November 1, 2021Brown sits for a proffer with two assistant DAs, Chattanooga police and ATF, and gives the account the State uses at trial. See the record
  9. December 9, 2021Brittany Lanham’s first recorded interview, nine months after the indictment. See the record
  10. October 4, 2022DNA standards from Donyell and Brown finally reach the TBI lab, nineteen months after the indictment. See the record
  11. December 15, 2022TBI excludes Donyell from the blood in Randall’s car and at Stockton. See the record
  12. February 21, 2023TBI on the red SCCY pistol the State calls the murder weapon: “No examination was performed.” See the record
  13. April 10, 2024A new five-count indictment, five weeks before trial. See the record
  14. May 14, 2024Trial begins. See the record

The charge came first. The eyewitness, the cooperating witness and the lab results all came after it, and the lab results pointed away from Donyell.

The ATF letter: Brown’s gun and the bullet, sent together

January 12, 2021. ATF takes the bullet from Randall’s body together with Derik Brown’s gun, filed under Brown’s name as the defendant: “Defendant: Derik Brown … Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm pistol, serial number HVV5306 … Projectile from Body.” No ATF comparison result appears in any record we have reviewed.

Source: ATF letter, Special Agent Stephen Gordy, January 12, 2021.

Brown’s own statement: “they dumped Randall”

Detective Stokes’s report of Derik Brown’s November 1, 2021 proffer, page 2. The highlighted line is Brown describing the disposal of Randall’s body: “Derik stated they dumped Randall outside of Tiftonia near pass THP headquarters.” Brown was never charged in Randall’s death.

Source: Stokes Supplement CA, both pages. The other lines on this page are Brown’s accusations, made while he was seeking a federal sentence reduction; they are not findings.

What the judge relied on, and what the record shows

On July 2, 2025, Judge Amanda B. Dunn denied Donyell’s motion for new trial. Here are four things the Court relied on, each set beside the State’s own papers.

  1. 1. A gun nobody tied to the shooting

    What the judge relied on

    “Special Agent Castelbuono, found that Mr. Holland was the major contributor to the DNA that was located on the Canik firearm. The same Canik firearm was specifically described by Ms. Lanham as being the murder weapon in this case.” When Donyell objected, the Court said: “Strike that. Let’s pretend I never said that.” The motion was still denied.

    Motion for new trial hearing, July 2, 2025, the Court’s ruling

    What the record shows

    Ms. Lanham described a red pistol. The State’s alleged murder weapon is the red SCCY, a different gun from the Canik. The TBI on the red SCCY: “No examination was performed.”

    TBI reports, Lab Case 201012860

  2. 2. “He did not want” a deal

    What the judge relied on

    The Court found that Derik Brown “did not want a 5K1 reduction” in his federal sentence for his testimony.

    Motion for new trial hearing, July 2, 2025, the Court’s ruling

    What the record shows

    The prosecutor’s own letter, five weeks before trial: Brown “is hoping to receive a downward departure for providing assistance to authorities regarding the homicide of Randall Leslie.” On February 5, 2025, two Hamilton County cases against Brown were marked “DISMISSED – PER D.A.”, one week before his federal sentence.

    State letter, April 8, 2024; Hamilton County court record

  3. 3. The blood in the trunk

    What the judge relied on

    The Court said the blood on the trunk mat and the board under the carpet corroborated Brown’s account of moving Randall’s body.

    Motion for new trial hearing, July 2, 2025, the Court’s ruling

    What the record shows

    The TBI says that blood belongs to Unknown Male #1. Donyell and Brown are both excluded. No reference sample from Randall was examined, so the lab never said the blood is his. The back seat, where Ms. Lanham says Randall died: “No examination was performed.”

    TBI reports, Oct. 30, 2020 and Dec. 15, 2022

  4. 4. “100-degree weather”

    What the judge relied on

    Ms. Lanham, under oath on June 13, 2025: Randall “died in the back of his own car in 100-degree weather.” In the same answer: “we sat in the rain for hours and hours.” The Court found her testimony identical to her trial testimony and “very credible.”

    Motion for new trial hearing, June 13, 2025; Motion for new trial hearing, July 2, 2025, the Court’s ruling

    What the record shows

    Chattanooga airport weather station, May 27, 2020: high of 76°F, 0.88 inch of rain. being checked against the certified NOAA record.

    NOAA Climate Data Online, station Chattanooga AP

See the detective, the prosecutors and the Court held to their own record →

Quotes are from the official court-reporter transcripts. Our copies were read from paper by machine and are being checked against the certified originals.

You don’t have to take our word for it

Six things in the State’s own papers

Every one of these comes from a police report, a lab report, a court filing or the State’s own brief. Each card links to the page itself.

1

The man stopped in the victim’s car became the State’s witness.

One day after Randall disappeared, Derik Brown was pulled over driving Randall’s Mitsubishi. At trial, Brown testified for the State.

Source: Brown’s federal plea agreement, Doc. 80; trial record

See the proof →
2

“We did not learn of the proffer until the day before we traveled” to meet Brown.

That is the prosecutor’s letter of April 8, 2024. The same letter’s first paragraph says the November 2021 proffer was conducted by federal agents, the Chattanooga Police Department and two assistant DAs from the same office, Leslie Longshore and Collin Campbell. The letter does not say who “we” means.

Source: State letter 4/8/2024, p. 1; Stokes Supplement CA

See the proof →
3

“Could only have been shot out of the red SCCY pistol.”

That is what the State told the appeals court. The State’s own firearms examiner wrote that the bullet’s damage “precludes a more conclusive determination.”

Source: State’s brief p. 21; TBI Exhibit 53

See the proof →
4

An evidence report that ended, then grew.

The evidence inventory ends at Item 176: “END OF REPORT.” A later copy adds Item 177, logged more than three months after the report’s own date, above that same line.

Source: Evidence Inventory 20-052168, both copies

See the proof →
5

The back seat where the State says he died: “No examination was performed.”

Crime scene notes flag “the possibility of blood on the back seat and seat belts.” The TBI DNA (biology) report on the rear seat, item 023-a: “No examination was performed.”

Source: CSU report; TBI report 12/15/2022

See the proof →
6

Removed from his own trial, and the minutes say nothing.

The State’s brief confirms Donyell was removed during the State’s closing and kept out through the closings and the jury charge. The court minutes for that day say he was present “in person with his attorney” and never mention the removal.

Source: State’s brief pp. 43-44 (citing XV 658, 695-96); court minutes 5/16/2024

See the proof →
207places the State’s own records disagree, go missing, or don’t add up
34direct conflicts between the State’s own records
1,154days from his arrest (March 17, 2021) to the start of his trial (May 14, 2024)
6+years Donyell has maintained his innocence

Why read this?

Because a man is serving life plus fifty, and the record behind it does not line up. You don’t have to believe us. Every claim here names the record it came from, and anything that rests on a recording or machine transcript is marked “being checked” until it is checked word for word. Read it the way a juror should have: slowly, with the documents in front of you.

Start with Chapter 1: Who I AmCheck all 207 discrepancies
Page 1 of 71ContentsIndex A to ZWho’s Who

The Book of Donyell Dewayne Holland

Notice to Hamilton County

!Where did Derik Brown get Randall’s car?

The State’s witness gave at least eight different answers: a man at a hotel, “Tom Tom and Keke,” a car renter, “Kiki” for heroin, “dude” who owed him $900, Glencoe Street, Gloucester Lane, and a house he found by GPS. The Glencoe address was first read out by a detective from Brown’s phone.

See every version, with the papers →

Why Donyell Holland is innocent

Donyell has said from the first day that he did not kill Randall Leslie. The State’s own records back him:

  1. Derik Brown was caught in Randall’s car the day after Randall disappeared, wearing gloves and lying about where he got it. He has given at least eight different answers since. See every version.
  2. Brown became the State’s witness while he was working out a federal deal. The jury was asked to take his word.
  3. No blood at any scene the State named. The camper the affidavit called a “strong possibility of blood” tested negative at the TBI lab.
  4. No DNA on the gun the State called the murder weapon. The bullet matches a brand of gun, not a gun.
  5. No test of Brown’s own gun against the bullet appears in any record we have. ATF held his gun and the bullet together from January 2021. No result appears in any record we have.
  6. Donyell was removed from his own trial during the State’s closing, with no warning that day. Hear it.

Why the jury should not have believed Brown and Lanham

  1. Brown lied from the first minute. Stopped in Randall’s car, he told the deputy he rented it from “a man” at a hotel. Since then: Tom Tom and Keke, “Kiki” for heroin, a blue house off Bonny Oaks, a Glencoe address the detective read to him off his own phone, Gloucester Lane, “tricked,” and in the State’s 2026 brief, “unsure.” A man who cannot tell the same story twice about where he got the dead man’s car is not a witness. He is a suspect.
  2. Brown had every reason to point at someone else. He was caught with the victim’s car and facing federal charges. His help in Donyell’s case went into his federal cooperation. The prosecutor’s letter told the defense he “has entered a guilty plea”; his plea agreement was not filed until five months later, after he testified.
  3. Brown owned a 9mm. Of the Smith & Wesson he was caught with, he said on tape: “That’s my shit … I load that gun” (June 10, 2020). No test of it against the bullet appears in any record we have.
  4. Lanham’s story does not match the evidence. She told police Randall “was bleeding significantly” in the camper. The TBI lab tested the camper and found no blood.
  5. The State could not keep its own scene straight. Its papers put the shooting in four different places, and no blood was found at any of them.

Take away Brown and Lanham and nothing puts Donyell at the killing. That is reasonable doubt, and it is why he is fighting for a new trial.

In my words

“Make my website like a book of my story.”

That is what I asked for, so here it is. Every chapter runs in date order, from May 2020 to today. Every chapter shows you the actual papers: the State’s reports, the lab results, the court dockets, the orders, and my own filings. Read them and decide for yourself.

Donyell Dewayne Holland

Where did Derik Brown get Randall’s car? Pick a story.

Derik Brown was stopped in Coffee County on May 28, 2020, driving Randall Leslie’s Mitsubishi, one day after Randall disappeared. Here is every answer on record to one simple question: where did he get the car?

  1. May 28, 2020
    Brown, to Deputy Simmons at the stop
    “He stated he purchased the vehicle from a guy who buys and sells cars in Chattanooga.”
    Source: Deputy Blake Simmons’s written narrative, Coffee County read the page
  2. May 28, 2020
    Brown, same stop, second answer
    “Derik then stated he rented the car for the weekend from a guy to put braked [sic] and rotors on it.”
    Source: Simmons narrative read the page
  3. May 28, 2020
    Brown, same stop, third answer
    “Derik did not remember who he got the car from but stated it was at a hotel.”
    Source: Simmons narrative read the page
  4. May 28, 2020
    What Chattanooga police wrote down that day
    “Derrick Brown who was arrested for drugs said he purchased the vehicle with no proof.”
    Source: CPD missing-person notes, case 20-052161 read the page
  5. May 28, 2020
    Brown at the stop, as the deputy retold it on June 10
    First “Tom Tom” and “Keke.” Then: he rented it from a man in Chattanooga to put brakes and rotors on it.
    Source: Deputy Simmons briefing Chattanooga detectives, June 10, 2020 (recording 200610_001.MP3) being checked
  6. June 10, 2020
    Brown, recorded CPD interview (transcript page 5)
    “Man, I traded a gram of heroin to rent the car, from dirt ass, junk ass, garbage ass lady.” Asked who: “Her name is KeKe.” Asked “Kiara?”: “Yeah.”
    Source: Transcript of the June 10, 2020 interview read the page
  7. June 10, 2020
    Same interview (pages 14 and 15)
    “Where I got the car at was somewhere else off Bonny Oaks.” And: “I ain’t kill nobody. I just rent the fucking car.”
    Source: Transcript, pages 14 and 15 read the page
  8. June 10, 2020
    Same interview (page 21)
    “Off Bonny Oaks, that’s where I got the car but I made the deal prior to that though.” Then: “when I got to the hotel, that’s when I got the car”
    Source: Transcript, page 21 read the page
  9. June 10, 2020
    Same interview, later
    He picked it up at night from a dark, blue house off Bonny Oaks Drive. Later he agrees that “40-62 Glenco” is “where you picked up the car.”
    Source: Brown interview recording, June 10, 2020 being checked
  10. June 10, 2020
    The lead detective’s written summary of that interview
    “Kiara rented Randall’s car (Lancer) to Brown for a gram Heroin”; “Kiara owns [sic] Brown $500”; “Holland gave Kiara the gram of Heroin for the car”; “Brown stated he obtained Randall from a house on Glencoe Street off Bonny Oaks Drive”
    Source: Lead detective’s report, page 9 read the page
  11. June 18, 2020
    Brown, interview with an ATF agent present
    Holland offered Randall’s car as collateral for a debt Brown was owed (Donyell’s summary of the recording).
    Source: Interview recording, June 18, 2020 being checked
  12. November 1, 2021
    Brown, proffer interview with prosecutors and ATF
    “Derik stated as he arrived to 4062 Glencoe Street Holland greeted him”; “Derik stated Holland bought [sic] Randall’s Mitsubishi from the rear of the residence on Glencoe Street”
    Source: Stokes Supplement CA, page 2 read the page
  13. April 8, 2024
    The prosecutor, in writing, five weeks before trial
    “a residence on Gloucester Lane where they met Holland. Holland retrieved a vehicle from the rear of the property.” And: “Brown kept the vehicle because Holland owed him a debt.”
    Source: Letter from ADA Paul Moyle, April 8, 2024 read the page
  14. May 15, 2024
    Brown at trial, asked about the story of renting the car from “Kiki”
    “I was lying.” … “I wasn’t telling the truth.”
    Source: Trial audio, Day 2, part 3, 00:52:22 to 00:52:32 (machine transcript) read the page being checked
  15. 2026
    The State, on appeal
    “From where Defendant gets the impression that the State said that house was at 4062 Glencoe Street the State is unsure.”
    Source: State’s appellate brief, page 27

Read the papers yourself

The arrest report: Deputy Simmons’s narrative of the May 28, 2020 stopBrown in Randall’s car, three answersBrown’s November 1, 2021 statement: the lead detective’s proffer report (Supplement CA)a statement about the car and the bodyBrown’s June 10, 2020 interview: transcript pages (copy marked as a trial exhibit)The sworn affidavit: search warrant for 4088 Teakwood, June 8, 2020Donyell’s own list: “Derek Brown Inconsistent Statements” (handwritten, 3 pages)his words; he calls the November 2021 statement a confession, which this site does not

Handwritten circles, stars and “Exhibit” labels on the transcript pages are marks on the copy, not part of the original transcript.

Side by side: the State’s story and the record

What the State told the jury
  • At the stop, Brown told the deputy he had “just bought the car in Chattanooga,” but “could not tell Deputy Simmons from whom.” Later he “gave a different story.” Trial, Vol. XI, pp. 81 to 82, as summarized in the State’s brief, p. 18
  • Donyell drove Randall’s car, with Randall’s body in the back seat, from a “white house off Bonny Oaks” to “another house on Glencoe Street” and parked it by some shrubs. Vol. XI, pp. 109, 118 to 120; State’s brief, pp. 15 to 16
  • “A Tahoe pulled up.” Derik Brown was driving it, with Jimmy Green. Vol. XI, p. 122; Vol. XIV, pp. 478 to 479
  • Brown “got in the victim’s car and drove away with the Tahoe following.” Vol. XI, p. 123; Vol. XIV, pp. 484 to 486
What the record shows
  • According to the State’s brief, no house number for Glencoe was given at trial: “She did not specify a number, just that it was on Glencoe Street.” State’s brief, p. 27
  • The State’s own proffer report puts it at 4062 Glencoe Street. Hamilton County’s 2020 tax bill assesses 4062 Glencoe at $3,500. Google Street View of that address (December 2023) shows a fenced lot with no house: look for yourself. See the tax bill (owners’ names and mailing address blacked out). Stokes Supplement CA; Hamilton County tax record, 2020
  • The prosecutor’s own letter, five weeks before trial, puts it on “Gloucester Lane.” Moyle letter, April 8, 2024
  • The house off Bonny Oaks was white to the jury. Brown told detectives it was dark blue. Trial, Vol. XI, p. 109; Brown interview, June 10, 2020 being checked
  • The vehicle that pulled up was a Tahoe to the jury, a forest-green Suburban in Brown’s own trial testimony, and an older dark-green Expedition when he spoke to detectives in 2020. Vol. XI, p. 122; trial audio Day 2, part 3, 00:24:23; Brown interview, June 10, 2020 being checked

Who said what about the handoff

WhoWhenWhere Brown got the carThe vehicle that cameSource
The State, to the juryMay 2024A house on Glencoe Street, no number givenA Tahoe; Brown driving, Jimmy Green with himState’s brief, pp. 16, 27 (trial Vol. XI, pp. 118 to 122; Vol. XIV, pp. 478 to 479)
Brittany Lanham, at trialMay 2024A house on Glencoe Street“A Tahoe pulled up”Trial, Vol. XI, pp. 118 to 122
Brittany Lanham, first recorded interviewDec. 9, 2021(not stated in the clip)A “gray Tahoe,” “two men and one female”Lanham interview, 00:07:46 to 00:08:21being checked
Derik Brown, at trialMay 2024(see State’s version)A “forest green” Suburban, “four people in the car”Trial audio Day 2, part 3, 00:17:36 and 00:24:23being checked
Derik Brown, to detectivesJune 10, 2020A dark blue house off Bonny Oaks; later agrees “40-62 Glenco”An “older Expedition,” dark green; someone else with him he would not nameBrown interview, June 10, 2020being checked
Payton Garrett, to detectivesJune 16, 2020(not stated)An Expedition (“Excursion”) from Rhea CountyGarrett interview, June 16, 2020being checked
Kiara Carson, repeating what she heardJune 8, 2020(not stated)A “gold Tahoe”Carson interview, June 8, 2020, clip 2E, 00:01:28being checked
Lead detective’s proffer reportNov. 1, 20214062 Glencoe Street; the car brought “from the rear of the residence on Glencoe Street”(not stated)Stokes Supplement CA
Chief Homicide Prosecutor’s letterApril 8, 2024“A residence on Gloucester Lane”Brown, Green, a person known only as “Miyagi” and Green’s girlfriendMoyle letter, April 8, 2024
Hamilton County tax record20204062 Glencoe Street, assessed at $3,500; Street View (Dec. 2023) shows a fenced lot with no houseHamilton County Trustee tax bill, 2020; Google Street View

? Every answer on record, two street names, one car. The State’s own proffer report says Glencoe. The State’s own appeal brief says it is “unsure” where anyone got the idea.

Payton Garrett (“Payday”): what he told police

Payton Garrett was with Derik Brown on May 27 and 28, 2020. Chattanooga detectives interviewed him on June 16, 2020. Two copies of the recording are in discovery (Disc 7 and Disc 25). He was not called at trial.

In the detective’s own report

  • Garrett placed Derik Brown at the Howard Johnson on May 27, 2020, and described a call for bleach. Source: Stokes Initial report
  • Two days later, detectives told Brown to his face: “we talked to payday … and he said you and him cleaned the car out with hand sanitizer.” Source: Brown interview, June 18, 2020, 00:36:50 being checked

On the June 16 recording

  • Brown bragging: “I’ll pop a [n-word], he’s done … didn’t I tell you, Five?” (00:48:55)
  • Hand sanitizer, wiping down the car, a car wash on Highway 58, and dumping bloody clothes (00:39:54 to 00:44:00).
  • A bag of bloody clothes and shoes left in the Howard Johnson parking lot (00:33:30).
  • Blood “soaked” the trunk down to the spare tire: “I don’t see how he wasn’t shot in the car” (01:01:35).
  • Brown looked up how to take the GPS off the car (00:39:54).
  • About Donyell: “I never met Poonie” (00:38:50).

Source: Payton Garrett interview, June 16, 2020. Quotes are from a machine transcript being checked.

What happened next: we have not located a record, in the materials reviewed, showing that police recovered the bag of bloody clothes, or that Garrett was ever charged.

What Derik Brown said about the trunk

  • June 10, 2020: “I don’t know. Nothing about the trunk. I ain’t ever go into the trunk.” Brown interview, 00:34:40 being checked
  • June 18, 2020: “I ain’t going to [the trunk]. No.” Brown interview, 00:38:22 being checked
  • May 2024, under oath at trial: “The first thing we do is just put the body in the trunk.” Trial, Vol. 2.3, 00:26:14 being checked

On June 10 he said he never went into the trunk, and on June 18 that he was not going to the trunk. At trial, after his federal indictment, he described putting the body in the trunk. All three quotes come from machine transcripts and are being checked against the recordings.

Where Derik Brown’s cases ended up

  • February 9, 2021: Federal gun case filed, United States v. Brown, No. 1:21-cr-00001-CLC-CHS (E.D. Tenn.). Federal docket
  • April 8, 2024: The prosecutor writes that Brown “is hoping to receive a downward departure for providing assistance to authorities regarding the homicide of Randall Leslie.” Moyle letter, April 8, 2024
  • May 2024, at trial: Brown tells the jury he asked his lawyer not to seek “any 5K.” Trial, Vol. 2.3, 00:47:03 being checked
  • February 5, 2025: Two Hamilton County cases against Brown, Sessions Nos. 1789002 (possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony) and 1789003, are marked “DISMISSED – PER D.A.” Hamilton County court record
  • February 12, 2025, one week later: Federal sentence of 40 months, run with his Coffee County sentences. Judgment, Doc. 101; sentencing minutes
  • March 10, 2025: Brown is out on supervised release. Records Donyell received being checked
  • Donyell Holland: life plus fifty years.

Brittany Lanham, the State’s eyewitness: the timeline

  1. May 27, 2020
    The day Randall disappeared
    At trial, Lanham said she saw the shooting at Teakwood Drive.
    Source: Trial testimony
  2. June 12, 2020 (Day 16)
    In police custody
    Found unconscious behind the wheel at the Mapco on Highway 58 and arrested. The incident record we reviewed shows no questions about the homicide. The in-car and body-camera video, marked as recorded, is not in the materials available to us, and we have not found this arrest in Hamilton County court records.
    Source: CPD Complaint No. 20-057178
  3. June 27, 2020
    Named a “critical witness”
    The lead detective’s BOLO email calls Lanham and another woman “critical witnesses.”
    Source: Stokes BOLO email
  4. December 9, 2021
    First recorded interview: 1 year, 6 months and 12 days later
    She is in custody at Silverdale on a 46-gram meth case. Detectives tell her, “We are not charging you with anything,” and relocation comes up (00:39:05). She says her father was a homicide detective (00:03:38); the detective acknowledges it.
    Source: Lanham interview, December 9, 2021 (Disc 14) being checked
  5. May 2024
    Trial
    She says eight to ten people were outside the house. Officer Gerity, who drove by, testified he saw no gathering and would have stopped for a crowd that size.
    Source: Trial, Vol. 1, pp. 59 to 60; State’s brief, p. 15
  6. After trial
    Motion for new trial hearing
    She testifies Randall bled “a lot” in the camper. The State’s own lab found no blood on the camper items, and the State admits it.
    Source: Hearing transcript, Vol. XVII, p. 39; Exhibit 49; State’s brief, p. 27

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