Randall Lendell Dejourney is held without bond after prosecutors outlined evidence tied to Hollis’ death.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A judge found probable cause to move forward with murder and abuse-of-a-corpse charges against Randall Lendell Dejourney after the body of Karen Deann Hollis was found beside an interstate in Greene County.
Dejourney, 44, was initially jailed on an abuse-of-a-corpse charge after Hollis, 23, was found May 16, eight days after she was reported missing from Northport. Prosecutors later added murder after a preliminary autopsy found that Hollis died of asphyxia and that the death was a homicide. Circuit Judge Allen W. May Jr. ordered Dejourney held without bond under Alabama’s Aniah’s Law and bound the case over for grand jury review.
The court hearing brought several parts of the investigation into public view. Prosecutors pointed to apartment security footage, phone data, search warrants and autopsy findings as evidence connecting Dejourney to Hollis’ death and to the movement of her body. Court filings said Dejourney was seen with Hollis at her apartment complex before both left the area. The filings also said he later returned and was seen leaving with a large tote that appeared to hold a black trash bag. Hollis’ body was later found in a black trash bag near Interstate 20/59.
The medical findings became a turning point. When Dejourney was first arrested, officials said more charges could be filed after the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences reviewed the cause and manner of death. The preliminary autopsy found asphyxia and classified the death as homicide. Prosecutors also addressed a claim attributed to Dejourney that Hollis had hanged herself. Court filings said the medical examiner found the injuries were not consistent with hanging, a finding that helped support the murder charge at the preliminary stage.
Dejourney’s bond status changed as the case grew more serious. He was first held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail on a $15,000 cash bond tied to the abuse-of-a-corpse charge. After the murder charge was added, prosecutors sought to hold him without bond. Under Aniah’s Law, Alabama judges may deny release in certain violent felony cases if the state proves that no release conditions can reasonably protect the public or ensure court appearance. May granted the state’s request after reviewing the evidence presented at the hearing.
The investigation started May 8, when Hollis was reported missing to the Northport Police Department. Police said early evidence suggested foul play, and the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit began working with Northport investigators. Officers executed multiple search warrants and gathered physical, witness and electronic evidence. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency issued a missing and endangered person alert, noting that Hollis had a condition that could impair her judgment. Her family and friends spent days searching while investigators followed digital records.
Those records included data from a location app and phone movements described by relatives and investigators. Family members said the app showed Hollis leaving her apartment area at 4:25 a.m. on May 8 and traveling toward Interstate 20. It later recorded hard braking at 4:42 a.m. Her boyfriend, Zackary Slaughter, said Hollis had been texting him before she disappeared. “She texted me at 11 p.m. saying she didn’t feel good,” Slaughter said. He also said she told him she was going to the store for a Reese’s peanut butter cup.
Searchers eventually found Hollis in Greene County after electronic evidence pointed them toward the area. Local accounts, citing court records, said investigators found Hollis’ phone near Interstate 20/59 and then examined Dejourney’s cell data. The records allegedly placed him at Hollis’ apartment and showed his phone moving along the same route as Hollis’ phone before the devices separated. Investigators then followed Dejourney’s phone movements toward Knoxville, Alabama, where the search later focused. Authorities have not released every underlying record.
Family members said they had encountered Dejourney before Hollis disappeared. Brandi Hollis said relatives were helping Karen move out of her apartment May 7 when they met him. The family later told local reporters that Dejourney said he was taking over the lease. Investigators have not publicly described the full relationship between Hollis and Dejourney. They have also not said whether he was the neighbor whom Slaughter said had given Hollis a ride to the store before the reported hard braking.
The case now moves through a slower court process. A grand jury will consider whether to indict Dejourney on the charges. If he is indicted, the case would proceed toward arraignment, discovery and later hearings. Prosecutors are expected to rely on the autopsy, phone records, video and witness accounts. Defense arguments have not been fully laid out in public. Dejourney is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
For now, Dejourney remains jailed without bond, and the case was awaiting its next formal court step. Hollis’ family has said the search, discovery and court process have left them grieving while they wait for answers about her final hours.
Author note: Last updated June 16, 2026.