Randon Lee murder: Accused Rueben Gulley spoke to TikTok star’s son on phone minutes before killing him
PRICHARD, ALABAMA: Police have revealed that the man, accused of killing popular TikTok star Ophelia Nichols’ son Randon Lee, spoke to him on the phone for two minutes before he was fatally shot to death. 20-year-old Reuben Gulley is accused of fatally shooting Lee, 18, at a gas station in Prichard, Alabama back in June. During a preliminary hearing on Monday, October 3, Prichard Police Detective Jason Hadaway said Gulley and Lee spoke on the phone several times the day of the shooting.
WKRG reported that police were also told by Lee's girlfriend that he had reportedly sold marijuana to Gulley in the past and had a drug deal scheduled on the day he was killed. Another witness claimed that he and Lee contacted via Snapchat and that Lee asked him if it was okay to sell the drugs to Gulley. Mobile County Circuit Judge Spiro Cheriogotis sent the case to a grand jury due to enough evidence. Hadaway said a man in a red hoodie could be seen getting out of a black Toyota Camry in security footage from the First Stop gas station. He was carrying a firearm and leaped into Lee's car. About 22 seconds later the same man gets out of Lee's car and gets back in the Camry.
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However, during the hearing, Gulley's attorney Chase Dearman denied the charges, arguing that the phone call is the only piece of evidence prosecutors have against his client. “There’s not a single living witness, and the police stated that they cannot put a single person – they cannot put Reuben Gulley on that scene. They do not know he was ever there. They don’t know if he was ever in the car," said Dearman, The Sun reports. His attorney added that Gulley did not want to run from the police and thus he turned himself in on August 18.
Assistant District Attorney Lauren Walsh said outside the courtroom on Monday that they believe Gulley is the man in the red hoodie although they have no evidence proving he was inside Lee's car. “We do believe he is the shooter at this point, but even if he was the driver, he would be just as guilty under accomplice liability,” she said. Lee was shot dead just hours before what would’ve been his 19th birthday.
Nichols revealed that she learned “a lot of stuff” that they didn’t know before her son was killed, including that he sold drugs. In a video, she said, “We’ve been told that the detectives think that marijuana was being dealt. My son was meeting there, and either they tried to rob him or they did rob him but he was shot.” She asked her millions for followers for information in a desperate attempt to catch her son's killer. “I have never asked y’all for anything, but I need your help with this" she said. "Took from my children, my husband, and our family. My son was murdered. He was shot. And I have this hatred in my heart that I don't recognize. Because I've never felt hate for anybody. This individual took my son's life.”
She told her followers to “look at her son” in a heartbreaking video. Nichols said that "would not stop" until the killer is found and prosecuted for Randon's murder. She revealed that Lee had “a lot of trouble” after his dad died. She said “He comes from good people, and he comes from a good family, and a good home but sometimes that just don’t matter. Sometimes that just don’t matter.”