The Map: Where Brown’s Phone Went, Where Mine Stayed, Where Randall’s Cars and Body Were Found

Red line: Derik Brown’s phone, May 27 night to May 28 afternoon, from Verizon records. Blue dots: the towers that handled the phone police attributed to me, May 28, from T-Mobile records. Gold: Randall’s gold 2005 Pontiac Grand Am. Black: where Randall’s body was found. Tap any marker for the date and source.

Marker spots are placed at the town or road named in the record, so they are approximate. A cell tower places a phone, not a person.

THE FIRST TWENTY-EIGHT DAYS

Key Events in the Randall Leslie Homicide Investigation

On May 27, 2020, Randall Leslie was last documented alive with Kiara Carson at 5015 Jarrett Road in Chattanooga.

Later that day, Leslie’s vehicle was found running at 4088 Teakwood Drive. Randall was not with it.

According to the case records, Kiara Carson was taken that night to Marion County by a man identified only as “Justin.” She was returned to Chattanooga the following day and interviewed by police late on the evening of May 28.

But before that interview took place, another major event had already occurred.

On May 28, Coffee County authorities located Randall Leslie’s silver Mitsubishi. Derik Brown was driving it.

Brown was arrested on narcotics charges while in possession of the missing man’s vehicle. At that point, Randall’s body had not been found and his death had not been officially confirmed.

Brown would later become a prosecution witness against Donyell Holland.

On June 9, Chattanooga police interviewed Holland.

Holland denied killing Randall Leslie. He identified Derik Brown as the shooter and maintained that Randall was still alive after the reported shooting.

Three days later, on June 12, Brittney Lanham was found unconscious at a Mapco gas station in another vehicle associated with Randall Leslie.

The timeline states that methamphetamine, Xanax, and drug paraphernalia were discovered. Lanham later became a witness for the State.

The circumstances surrounding her possession of Randall’s vehicle were not explained in the timeline.

On June 16 or 17, Michael Price contacted police after reportedly being released from a psychiatric facility.

The timeline describes his statements as confused and states that he referred to a person named “Putney” or “Pony.”

By that point, police had received information from several people, but Randall Leslie still had not been located.

On June 21, 2020, nearly four weeks after he was last seen, Randall’s body was discovered in a decomposed condition near Highway 41 in Marion County, Tennessee.

His death was officially confirmed on June 24.

The first twenty-eight days of the investigation therefore included:

• Randall Leslie’s disappearance;

• his vehicle being found without him;

• Derik Brown being arrested while driving that vehicle;

• Holland identifying Brown as the shooter;

• Brittney Lanham being discovered in another vehicle connected to Randall;

• conflicting or uncertain witness information; and

• the eventual discovery of Randall’s body in a different county.

These events form the foundation of the case.

They also establish the questions that appear throughout the later court record: who possessed Randall’s vehicles, what each witness actually knew, what information police documented, and what information was ultimately presented to the jury.

The State’s own reports from these weeks

From Derik Brown’s own federal plea agreement

In pictures