Inset, left to right: Brandi Merrick (CMPD) and Derrick Andre Randall Jr. (CMPD). Background: The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (Google Max).
A 36-year-old North Carolina man is accused of killing the mother of his children after she broke up with him, allegedly spending weeks trying to cover up the crime — including renting an excavator — leaving investigators searching for a body that has never been found.
Derrick Andre Randall Jr. is charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death of 37-year-old Brandi Leshonne Merrick after Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said they pieced together cellphone records, surveillance footage, license plate reader data and DNA evidence that they say points to him as her killer.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Merrick's mother reported her missing on June 12, telling investigators she had not heard from her daughter in two days. Family members said Merrick had last been seen with Randall at his Charlotte home and that the Hertz rental SUV she had been driving had also disappeared.
The disappearance immediately alarmed investigators. Merrick abruptly stopped communicating with family and friends, failed to report to work, and missed a scheduled court appearance — behavior those close to her described as "very out of character." Detectives also found no evidence that she had accessed her bank accounts, entered a hospital or shelter, or used rideshare services after June 10.
Investigators soon began focusing on Merrick's turbulent relationship with Randall. A friend told police she had repeatedly urged Merrick to leave Randall because he was "possessive and controlling," adding that Merrick had disclosed ongoing domestic violence.
Detectives also learned Concord police had obtained surveillance footage allegedly showing Randall damaging Merrick's vehicle days before she vanished, leaving her to drive a rental SUV while her own vehicle was being repaired.
Cellphone records showed Merrick traveled to Advance, North Carolina, on June 9 before returning to Randall's home that night. The following afternoon, her phone traveled toward Indian Trail before going permanently silent. Around the same time, Flock license plate cameras captured Randall's Chevrolet Silverado in the same area where Merrick's phone last transmitted, according to the affidavit.
GPS data from Merrick's rental SUV told the same story. Detectives said the vehicle remained near Randall's home before later being moved to another Charlotte neighborhood, where officers eventually found it abandoned. Surveillance footage from the area allegedly showed a man matching Randall's build parking the SUV before walking away.
When detectives interviewed Randall, he claimed Merrick drove him to a job on June 9 and that he last saw her the following afternoon after she apparently left while he was outside. He also said he never saw her rental SUV again. Investigators later said that account unraveled after Randall admitted he had moved the vehicle following Merrick's disappearance.
The investigation eventually led detectives to a wooded area in Catawba County after Randall's cellphone placed him there on June 10. There, investigators found vehicle tracks, blue nitrile gloves, a green ratchet strap and what they described as a shallow, freshly dug gravesite. Although no body was recovered, detectives later executed a search warrant at Randall's home and found blood spatter inside the garage along with blue gloves and a green ratchet strap similar to those recovered from the scene.
Police said the case grew even stronger after a witness told detectives Randall had asked him to rent an excavator on June 12.
"Randall informed the witness he needed assistance renting the excavator because he lost his wallet, but this witness had concerns Randall had something to do with the victim's disappearance and used the excavator to bury her body," the affidavit states.
Rental records confirmed the excavator was picked up that morning, while Flock cameras captured Randall towing it through Catawba County. According to investigators, images taken later that morning showed the excavator's bucket appeared dirtier than when it was first seen.
According to the affidavit, DNA testing identified the blood recovered from Randall's garage as Merrick's. Investigators also said Merrick's DNA was found on the glove and ratchet strap recovered near the suspected gravesite, along with DNA from an unidentified male contributor.
Randall is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 21.
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