GUILTY AL - Diana Donahoo Rice, 62, Shelby County, 3 April 2009

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http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/news/2009/apr/06/search-missing-woman/

6 April 09

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is searching for 62-year-old Diana Donahoo Rice, who was last seen on April 3 at a residence in the 16000 block of Highway 55 in eastern Shelby County.

According to a news release, Rice was employed at the residence. She is 5 feet 3 inches tall and 200 pounds. She has blond hair and blue eyes.

It is believed Rice left the residence in her 2003 white Ford Taurus with Alabama license plate number 07206AV. The vehicle, which is also missing, has a dent on the driver’s side rear quarter-panel.

Anyone with information about Rice’s disappearance or her whereabouts is urged to contact the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office at 669-4181 or the Secret Witness line at 669-9116. People may also visit the Web site shelbyso.com to submit information. Click on the “Report Criminal Activity” link and select the “General Information” category.

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Suspect in a home invasion, kitten strangling and attempted rape is charged, and faces questioning in the death of woman

To be questioned in caregiver's death

Investigators in three counties are trying to untangle a bizarre series of violent crimes and they believe Randy O'Neal Davidson has the answers.
Davidson, a 28-year-old unemployed drifter of sorts, was charged with robbery, burglary, attempted rape and cruelty to animals on Tuesday.
Authorities say the machete-wielding Davidson broke into a Jefferson County home Monday, strangled a kitten in front of children and then tried to sexually assault a 27-year-old mother whom he had previously taunted for being in a racially mixed marriage.
Also, Shelby County sheriff's authorities confirmed they want to question Davidson in the disappearance and death of 62-year-old Diana Donahoo Rice, a caregiver for the elderly, whose body was found in the woods in St. Clair County on Tuesday after being missing since late last week. Authorities haven't released a cause of death.
"This is no doubt a homicide," said Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry.
Davidson was captured by county and federal officials on Monday evening, not long after the Jefferson County home invasion on Coalburg Road. Davidson was arrested at the Flying J truck stop, where Rice's car was parked, at the 41st Avenue exit off Interstate 65. He was arrested on charges of burglary and theft in Shelby County unrelated to Rice.
"That kind of threat running loose gives chills to law enforcement, but also great resolve to get the job done," said Jefferson County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Randy Christian. "Hopefully his crime spree is over and locked up is where he will stay."
Curry said his office began an investigation into Rice's disappearance Saturday after relatives reported her missing. Rice lived at the house in the 16000 block of Shelby County 55 in the Sterrett area where she worked as a caregiver for an elderly man.
At the time Rice was reported missing, the sheriff's office was already looking for Davidson in connection with a burglary that happened in that area last Thursday.
They learned that a man believed to be Davidson had shown up at the house where Rice worked, reportedly with car trouble, the day before she went missing, Curry said.
Rice's body was found by St. Clair County Sheriff Terry Surles who was searching likely areas for her on his off day. She was found in a wooded area far off the road, about a mile away from where her purse was found Saturday on Camp Winnataska Road.
Authorities said there were no obvious gunshot or stab wounds. Her body has been taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Huntsville for an autopsy.
Davidson was most recently living in the area near where Rice lived, Curry said.
Previously, he had lived in the area near the Coalburg Road home invasion. In that case, authorities said, Davidson broke into the home about 3:30 p.m. Monday.
They said he strangled the kitten in front of two children, an infant and a 3-year-old boy. The attacker then forced their mother into a bedroom, hitting the young boy in the head along the way.
As Davidson attempted to rape the woman, a school bus carrying the victim's daughter pulled up in front of the house and stopped, Christian said.
Davidson then took a truck belonging to the woman's husband and fled. He later showed up at the truck stop, where authorities believe he was trying to get back to Rice's car. The truck has not been found.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/metro.ssf?/base/news/1239178694155630.xml&coll=2
 
Capital murder case goes to grand jury

A judge ruled Tuesday that there was enough evidence to bind over a capital murder case against a Shelby County man to a St. Clair County grand jury.
District Court Judge Phil Seay ruled in a preliminary hearing Tuesday that there was probable cause to bind over the state’s case against Randy O’Neal Davidson, 28. Davidson is charged with the capital murder of Diana Donahoo Rice, 62, of Shelby County.

http://www.dailyhome.com/news/2009/dh-pellcity-0520-datchison-9e19v5956.htm
 
From December 2010:

http://www.newsaegis.com/news/guilt...cle_eb2ab31c-b691-539c-98e7-fa0e24113dcb.html

A Sterrett, Ala. man will spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of a 62-year-old woman whose body was found in St. Clair County.

Randy O’Neal Davidson, 29, was found guilty of capital murder Tuesday, and was sentenced to a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole as a result of a plea agreement...

According to Shelby County Investigator Jay Fondren, Rice and Davidson had only met once or twice before that he arrived on their doorstep that day. “The Halloween prior [to the incident] his Jeep overheated in front of the residence. He asked her for water, and they helped him out,” Fondren said.
 

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