Pregnant 22-year-old woman found beheaded in garbage bin: ‘Beyond reprehensible’

An Illinois man has been charged with the murder of a 22-year-old pregnant woman who was found decapitated in the dumpster outside her apartment, in a crime that local police have described as “beyond reprehensible”.

Deundrea S Holloway, 22, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, both for the mother Liese Dodd and her unborn child, intentional homicide of an unborn child and the dismemberment of a human body among other crimes, Alton Police Chief Marcos Pulido said in a video statement shared on the force’s Facebook page.

“She was savagely, savagely killed,” Chief Pulido said while holding up a smiling picture of Dodd.

Dodd, who was weeks away from celebrating a baby shower that she’d been planning with her family and only a little over a month away from delivery date, was found dead on 9 June by her mother, who had gone to check on her after not hearing from her for some time.

Officers later confirmed that it was a suspected homicide after responding to a call at the Alton apartment on that day at around 12.59pm. The mother-to-be’s head was reportedly found by officers inside the rubbish bin outside her home.

“What was observed, what was learned … was absolutely terrible,” the police chief said in the video, taking a brief pause before providing details about what he cautioned listeners would leave them with “a complete loss for words”.

The pregnant woman and Holloway reportedly had an on and off relationship over the course of the past two years, authorities said.

Officers reportedly located the man shortly after the investigation into the suspected homicide had begun, and when they located Holloway, he reportedly refused to identify himself before being arrested.

The 22-year-old suspect is currently being held in jail on a $2m bond.