It’s been almost three years since Randy Herman, Jr. was convicted of murdering his friend and roommate, Brooke Preston, by brutally stabbing her repeatedly in their Florida home in March of 2017.
Randy’s story made national headlines after he claimed that he had been sleepwalking during the killing and had no recollection. The defense strategy did not win over the jury, and Randy was sentenced to life in prison in May of 2019.
Brooke’s murder was thrust into the spotlight once again late last year when Hulu announced that the case was the subject of a new documentary titled Dead Asleep. Despite objections and a petition from the murder victim’s family, Dead Asleep was released on December 16.
Randy has since filed an appeal in hopes of overturning his murder conviction. “In his new motion, Herman wrote among other allegations that his legal counsel erred in concluding that sleepwalking is a mental illness and in advising him to seek an insanity defense,” The Palm Beach Post reported in December.
Randy says that his sleepwalking defense “should have been raised under the legal defense of automatism.” Prosecutors have yet to file a response to Randy’s motion.
Does Randy Herman Jr Have A Girlfriend?
Randy Herman, Jr. is currently serving his life sentence at Hardee Correctional Institution in Bowling Green, Florida. However, his incarceration has apparently not kept Randy from dating!
A woman named Nicole Ellen recently posted a TikTok video that includes photos of herself visiting an inmate that looks very similar to Randy. (See image above.) The clip also includes a Valentine’s Day letter from the inmate, who signs it: “Love, Randy.”
Here’s the video:
@nicolellen_xo My forever..💗 #prisontiktok #prisongirlfriend #PassTheBIC #prisontok♥️🔒 ♬ original sound – Maddie
I’ve been unable to find out too much about Nicole. She appears to not be from Florida, as evidenced by a photo of her driving into the state. That, her name, and her physical appearance, are about all we have. (The video has several photos of Nicole and Randy together in which it is clear that Nicole is much taller. I believe that Randy’s height is 5-foot, 7 inches?)
As far as Nicole’s relationship with Randy, we can piece that together a bit. Here is what is written in the Valentine’s Day card:
Dear Nicole,
Every night for the past week I’ve pulled this card out trying to think of some way to describe my feelings for you and every night I’d draw a blank. Not because of a lack of feelings, but because there are so many thoughts and emotions that come to mind when I think about you and I just didn’t know how to write it all down. I wanted this to be the perfect card for the perfect girl.
Then it finally hit me. The only word to describe this feeling is love. It’s a feeling that is so incredible, you can’t explain it until you’ve truly felt it. Seven weeks is all it took for me to fall in love with you. I could go on for days telling you just how much I love you, but I’d rather spend the rest of my life showing you.
I love you Nicole.
Love, Randy
“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” – Maya Angelou
Randy mentions that he has known Nicole for seven weeks. If he sent the card on or just before Valentine’s Day, that would mean the two met in December of last year — the same month that Dead Asleep was released on Hulu. It would certainly make sense that Nicole reached out to Randy after seeing the documentary.
I want to point out that the video of the card looks to have been recorded by Nicole while she was driving more than 70 miles per hour.
I was also able to find Nicole on Facebook, and she posted a photo there that is much more clear. In it, you can almost read Randy’s name tag, and it certainly could be “Herman, Randy A” as seen in a prison photo of Randy Herman, Jr. from Dead Asleep:
There was not any additional information on Nicole’s Facebook page.
UPDATE – Randy and Nicole are now engaged! Tap the link for photos and details, including Nicole’s new “Randy” tattoo!
If you are curious to find about more about the murder of Brooke Preston, you can still stream Dead Asleep on Hulu. However, you might prefer to get the story from YouTuber Kendall Rae. Brooke’s family worked with Kendall, and her video is a lot less open minded about Randy’s sleepwalking defense.
Here’s Kendall Rae’s video:
Perhaps we will be seeing Nicole and Randy on an upcoming season of Love During Lockup?
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
