Madison County Associate Judge Neil Schroeder found that murder suspect Deundrea S. Holloway is unfit to stand trial after he was accused of beheading Liese Dodd, killing her and her unborn baby.
Associate Judge Martin Mengarelli had previously entered an order on July 21 stating that Dr. Cuneo submitted a report finding Holloway, 22 of Alton, unfit to stand trial. However, he noted that the State of Illinois “does not stipulate to the report,” and continued Holloway’s arraignment until the issue of mental fitness was resolved.
Dodd, 22, was found dead at her Alton residence on June 9 by her mother. She was pregnant with a late-July due date. She had been in an on-again, off-again relationship with Holloway.
Holloway was charged on June 13 with seven counts of first degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child, dismembering a human body, offenses relating to motor vehicles and concealment of homicidal death.
According to the charges, Holloway allegedly cut Dodd’s neck. He then allegedly severed Dodd’s head and put it in a dumpster. Holloway is also accused of being in possession of a stolen Kia Optima.
A celebration of life for Dodd and “Baby Bean” was held on June 26, which was the day her family and friends were planning to host a baby shower for her.
In her obituary, Dodd was remembered as “a light that somehow still shines during these dark days.”
“Liese was a happy go-lucky young daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, friend and mother-to-be,” the obituary states. “She touched so many lives with her warm heart and her smile that could light up any room.”
A motion hearing for a gag order was previously scheduled for July 21, but it was canceled by Schroeder. He wrote that the motion would only be reset for hearing upon request.
Assistant Public Defender Kerri Davis, who is also a member of the Third Judicial Circuit Family Violence Prevention Council, filed the motion for a gag order in response to what she considers to be “inappropriate statements regarding the character and guilt of the defendant.” A second motion for a gag order was filed on July 7.
Following the murder, a video was posted on the Alton Police Department’s Facebook page on June 13, in which Alton Police Chief Marcos Pulido provided information about the murder in lieu of a press conference.
Davis takes issue with the public’s response in the comment section of the post. She wrote that the Facebook post in question, which has been removed, had been seen by more than 112,000 people and had more than 600 comments when the motion was filed.
She wrote that the comments made by the public express that Holloway is “undeserving of due process and should immediately and horribly be put to death.” She claims statements made by random members of the public in response to the crime Holloway is suspected of committing condemn him, as he is called a “monster,” “garbage” and “pure evil” in the comment section of the public Facebook post.
The Alton Police Department's video was shared by the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office.
In her motion for a gag order, Davis asked the court to bar the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office “as well as other parties to the case” from making any future comments “that would increase the risk of tainting the jury and further damaging the defendant’s constitutional rights.”
However, no other statements have been made by the Alton Police Department, the Madison County State's Attorney's Office, nor any other local official since the initial information was provided to the public.
Davis also filed a motion to prohibit extrajudicial comments on June 15.
The motion states that the video “decimates the defendant’s constitutional right to a fair trial. She adds that Holloway "is a citizen accused of a crime and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law," Davis wrote "The intent of the comments can be construed no other way than to poison the public against the defendant at a time in the proceedings where probable cause has not even yet been established.”
On June 16, Schroeder instructed the State’s Attorney’s Office to comply with the applicable rules in the case but denied all additional requests made by Davis, which included a request for a “curative statement.”
Madison County Circuit Court case number 22-CF-1523