Man sentenced for decapitating on-again, off-again girlfriend who was 8 months pregnant

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (TCN) — A 25-year-old man will spend the next several decades behind bars for killing and decapitating his on-again, off-again pregnant girlfriend who was just weeks away from giving birth.

The Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office announced Jan. 17 that Deundrea Holloway pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child, and concealment of a homicidal death in connection with the death of 22-year-old Liese Dodd and her unborn child. A judge sentenced Holloway to 60 years in prison.

The Illinois Supreme Court reportedly determined that “an unborn child cannot be construed as a second murder victim for purposes of seeking a sentence of life in prison.”

On June 9, 2022, Dodd’s mother reportedly grew worried when Dodd failed to respond to her. She went to Dodd’s apartment and found her daughter deceased with her neck cut. Her head had been left in a garbage bin outside. Police arrested Holloway that day in Gillespie, Illinois.

Alton Police Chief Marcos Pulido called Holloway a “savage monster.”

Dodd was due to give birth in July 2022 and her family was in the process of planning a baby shower for her.

According to the state’s attorney’s office, Holloway underwent psychological evaluations and was, for a time, declared unfit to stand trial. He was treated a state-run institution for several months before officials determined he could go to trial.

KTVI-TV reports Dodd’s mother, Heidi Noel, said following the sentencing, “This is a tragic outcome of a two-year on-and-off again domestic violence relationship. This didn’t have to end this way. My daughter should be here raising her toddler.”

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