Kiara Carson was with Randall Leslie on May 27, 2020. Her police report the next day, number 20-052168, was filed as a kidnapping at a gas station, and the State later filed the homicide evidence under that same number. This page puts her two recorded accounts, the police records, and the gold Grand Am in date order.
Quotes marked “recording” come from machine transcripts of the police recordings and are being checked by ear against the audio. The recordings themselves are the record.
May 27 to June 8, 2020
- May 27, 2020Carson says she paid Randall $500 that day for “the brown car,” his gold Pontiac Grand Am, and was to meet him later to sign the title.Carson interview, May 28, 2020 (recording), about 00:43:25 to 00:49:21
- May 27, 2020, nightCarson says she was at a Speedway. On May 28 she said she was “just there getting gas.” On June 8 she said she was meeting someone from Facebook with “$50 in my hand.”Carson interviews, May 28 (about 01:08:39) and June 8 (about 01:01:52)
- May 27 to 28She says a man named Justin took her to South Pittsburg, in Marion County. About the Grand Am: “They took my car,” and it “sat there for a while” at the Speedway.Carson interview, May 28, 2020, about 01:04:43 to 01:05:45
- May 28, 2020Chattanooga Police open report 20-052168 on Carson’s complaint. The Grand Am is entered as stolen. Registered owner on the police record: Randall Leslie.CPD report 20-052168; 911 incident record 2020-05-41741
- May 28, 2020, 10:39 PMCarson’s first recorded interview. The detective: “right now I don’t have enough to say that you were kidnapped.” And: “it sounds like you went up there willingly.” Carson: “[he] didn’t force me to go. I felt more safe leaving here.” She also says she turned her phone’s GPS off right before the Speedway: “I don’t know why I did that.”Carson interview, May 28, 2020, about 01:46:17, 01:48:38, 01:08:01
- June 3, 2020South Pittsburg Police find the Grand Am. Marion County: the car is towed to Precision Towing, “column punch out,” case number 247492. No Marion County report on it is in the discovery reviewed.911 incident record 2020-05-41741, entries 48 to 50
- June 8, 2020Carson’s second recorded interview. In the third minute the detective offers that “we have a party on standby that can move you, relocate you.” Her account changes: now she says she rode with Randall to Poonie’s, went back to Poonie’s later, and was held against her will.Carson interview, June 8, 2020 (recording), about 00:03:03 and following
- October 1, 2020Chattanooga Police finally process the Grand Am, about four months after it was towed. That is when Item 177, 97 rounds, is logged from its trunk.Evidence inventory, Item 177; McElroy follow-up report
Her two accounts, side by side
| Question | May 28, 2020 | June 8, 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Why Randall left | “He had to run somewhere first.” | She rode with him to Poonie’s to buy $300 of ice, then watched him find it fake. |
| Did she go back to Poonie’s? | “No.” | Yes, she rang “the Ring thing,” “once, twice.” |
| Why the Speedway | “Just there getting gas.” | Waiting on a Facebook contact with $50. |
| Kidnapped? | “[He] didn’t force me to go.” | “They didn’t want me to leave”; a rifle to her head. |
| Who was with her | “It was just one.” | Justin and a woman who “babysat” her at a motel. |
Recording quotes are from machine transcripts and are being checked by ear.
Whose Grand Am was it?
- Registered owner: Randall Leslie, on the police vehicle record.
- Who had it last: Carson says she bought it from Randall on May 27 and left it at the Speedway.
- Where it was found: South Pittsburg, Marion County, June 3, 2020, column punched, towed to Precision Towing.
- Where Randall was found: also Marion County, near Jasper, on June 21, 2020.