LEAD INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS

Stokes Initial Homicide Investigative Report — Case No. 20-052161

Agency: Chattanooga Police Department
Case / Complaint No.: 20-052161
Document Type: Initial Investigative / Follow-Up Report
Offense Listed: Homicide / Gun / Unknown
Original Offense Date: May 27, 2020
Location of Incident: 4088 Teakwood Drive
Case Investigator: Corey Stokes
Reviewing Supervisor: Sgt. Adam Emery #284
Initial Report Date: June 27, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.
Later Date Shown on Report: February 18, 2021
Victim: Randall Leslie

What This Report Shows

This Chattanooga Police Department investigative report is Investigator Corey Stokes’s detailed summary of the Randall Leslie investigation after the case was transferred from a missing-person investigation into a homicide investigation.

The report states that Stokes was assigned to Leslie’s disappearance on June 8, 2020 after being briefed by Investigator Blount. It records the execution of search warrants that night at 4088 Teakwood Drive and 6305 Stockton Drive, and identifies evidence investigators reported finding at both locations.

At Teakwood, Stokes documented active camera and audio equipment, a presumptive test indicating the possible presence of blood inside the camper, bullet-impact damage, ammunition, narcotics, and other items. At Stockton Drive, the report lists four handguns, ammunition, suspected narcotics, a knife and T-shirt with suspected blood, ten cell phones, a first-aid kit, and a Mercedes-Benz.

The report also summarizes interviews with Kiara Carson, Christopher Johnson, Donyell Holland, Derik Brown, and Payton Garrett. Stokes records that Holland denied shooting Randall and stated that Derik Brown shot Randall during a disagreement. The report further states that Holland said Randall was placed in the camper for several minutes and later taken to Stockton Drive.

Stokes’s June 10 summary of his interview with Derik Brown records that Brown denied killing Randall, acknowledged wearing green gloves, allowed investigators limited access to his cell-phone GPS history, and described a 9mm Smith & Wesson M&P handgun associated with the vehicle.

The report also documents Stokes’s investigation of digital evidence, vehicle and camper processing, Randall Leslie’s apartment, and the June 16 interview of Payton Garrett. According to Stokes’s summary, Garrett reported that Brown was at the Howard Johnson Motel on May 27, requested a gallon of bleach, possessed an M&P 9mm, and was involved in a conversation concerning Randall.

Why This Document Matters

This report is significant because it is the lead homicide investigator’s own consolidated account of what police knew, what evidence they collected, who they interviewed, and what competing accounts existed during the earliest stage of the homicide investigation.

It also preserves several facts that can be compared directly against the search-warrant affidavits, original witness statements, audio interviews, forensic reports, property records, and later trial testimony — including Holland’s identification of Derik Brown as the shooter, Brown’s possession of an M&P 9mm, Brown’s green gloves, and Garrett’s account concerning bleach and Brown’s activities on May 27.