Pregnant Woman Decapitated; Was Due To Give Birth In July, Police Say

ALTON, IL — Liese Dodd’s family expected to be planning her baby shower this month. Instead, they are planning her funeral.

Dodd was killed and dismembered last week in downstate Alton by her on-and-off boyfriend of two years, Deundrea S. Holloway, according to police.

“Her mother had not heard from her in a little bit and wanted to go check on her to see if she was OK,” Alton Chief of Police Marcos Pulido said in a Facebook video, adding Dodd’s mother “found her in a way that you can’t imagine.”

Authorities were called at about 1 p.m. Thursday to Dodd’s home in the 3400 block of Bolivar Street, according to Pulido, who said the 22-year-old, due to give birth in late July, had been decapitated. Pulido became emotional during the video, repeatedly calling Holloway a “savage monster.”

Holloway, 22, of the 400 block of South Jefferson Street in Litchfield, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of intentional homicide of an unborn child, dismembering a human body, concealment of a homicide and vehicle-related offenses, police said. He was held Monday on $2 million bond, according to police.

“We believe the evidence will show that the defendant’s gruesome actions here killed both a young woman and the child she carried in her womb,” Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine said in a prepared statement. “In the eyes of the law, both these killings are equal. And he will now face justice for both.”

Holloway was taken into custody about 30 miles from Alton, in Gillespie, where he was apprehended in connection with a bicycle theft the same day Dodd’s body was found, according to police. Holloway refused to identify himself to officers and became aggressive at the local police station, requiring restraint, law enforcement said.

After being arrested on charges of theft, resisting an officer, obstructing identification and damaging state property, Holloway was transferred to Macoupin County Jail and later identified, according to Gillespie police.