What this means for Donyell
Derik Brown was caught in Randall’s car, told at least eight stories about how he got it, owned a 9mm that was never test-fired against the bullet, and became the State’s witness while making his own federal deal. The State asked the jury to convict Donyell on his word.
Caught in Randall’s car
- May 28, 2020, the day after Randall disappeared: a Coffee County deputy stopped Brown driving Randall Leslie’s Mitsubishi. At trial the deputy said Brown was wearing green gloves, lied about the car, and ran.
- Brown told the deputy he rented the car “for the weekend” from a man at a hotel and could not say who.
At least eight stories about the car
A man at a hotel. “Tom Tom” and “Keke.” “Kiki,” for heroin, through a friend called “Pune.” A blue house off Bonny Oaks. 4062 Glencoe, an address the detective read to him off his own phone. A man who owed him $900. Gloucester Lane. “Tricked.” And in the State’s 2026 appeal brief, “unsure.”
His gun
- Of the Smith & Wesson 9mm in the case, Brown said on tape: “That’s my shit … I load that gun” (June 10, 2020 interview).
- The State’s papers give four different accounts of where that gun was found and two different seats.
- The TBI never test-fired it against the bullet from Randall’s body. The examiner looked down the barrel and stopped.
- ATF held Brown’s gun and the bullet together from January 2021. Its result has never been produced.
Donyell named him first
- June 9, 2020: the lead detective’s own report records that Donyell “stated Derik Brown shot Randall.”
- The next day the detective told Brown that Donyell’s recorded statement says Brown shot him.
- Brown’s three phones went to the detective on June 10 and to ATF on June 23, 2020 “for downloading.” No download has ever been produced.
His federal deal
- Brown had his own federal case, U.S. v. Brown, No. 1:21-cr-00001 (E.D. Tenn.).
- November 1, 2021: Brown gave a proffer (a sit-down to trade information) with federal and state prosecutors in the room, including two assistant DAs from the office that prosecuted Donyell.
- April 8, 2024, five weeks before trial, the prosecutor wrote the defense that Brown “has entered a guilty plea.” Brown’s plea agreement was signed September 12, 2024 and filed September 13, 2024, after he testified.
His story at trial
- At trial Brown said he found Randall already dead and only helped move the body.
- He said he and “Jimmy” moved the body from the trunk. His proffer and the prosecutor’s letter put Randall in the back seat.
- The State never produced any statement, charge or deal for “Jimmy Green,” the man Brown says handled the body with him.
Quotes from police recordings and trial audio come from machine transcripts that are being checked by ear against the recordings. The recordings themselves are the record.