The sister of a woman who was murdered by the ‘sleepwalking’ killer has opened up about the ‘trauma’ of seeing her story retold in an ‘unwanted’ Hulu documentary, as she slammed the streaming service for ‘exploiting’ her family’s pain.
Brooke Preston, originally from Pennsylvania, was brutally stabbed and killed by her roommate Randy Herman Jr. in their West Palm Beach, Florida, home in 2017 when she was 21 years old.
During the trial, Herman – who had been friends with Brooke since they were little kids – claimed that he committed the crime while he was sleepwalking and that he had no recollection of the events – however, he was later convicted of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to life in prison.
Hulu then released a documentary about the controversial case in December 2021, entitled Dead Asleep, in which they looked into the validity of his defense – despite Brooke’s family begging them not to.
Now, Brooke’s sister, Jordan Preston, has blasted the network in a series of TikTok videos for releasing intimate footage from the moment her family found out Brooke was dead, forcing them to relive the ‘worst day of their lives,’ portraying Herman in a ‘positive light,’ and ‘feeding into his lies.’
She called the network ‘tasteless’ for ‘furthering the pain of the victims’ by sharing, adding that the documentary was ‘tearing her apart.’
The sister of a woman who was murdered has opened up about the ‘trauma’ of seeing her story retold in an ‘unwanted’ Hulu documentary. The sisters are seen together before her death
Brooke Preston (pictured), originally from Pennsylvania, was brutally stabbed and killed by her roommate Randy Herman Jr. in their West Palm Beach, Florida, home in 2017 when she was 21
Herman had been a family friend of Brooke’s since they were just kids. They are pictured together before her death
During the trial, Herman (pictured) claimed he committed the crime while he was sleepwalking – however, he was later convicted of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to life in prison
Now, Brooke’s sister, Jordan Preston (pictured), has blasted the network in a series of TikTok videos for forcing her and her family to relive the ‘worst day of their lives’ in their documentary
‘You think you can hurt me? Hulu just released a documentary on how my little sister was brutally murdered without our family’s consent so now we get to relive the worst day of our lives,’ she wrote in a TikTok video posted last year, which was watched more than 20 million times.
Jordan added in a follow-up video that it felt ‘awful’ to be ‘reminded about what happened every day.’
‘A lot of people were saying they’d be happy if a documentary was made on somebody that they were close with – if this documentary was about my sister and how amazing she was, I would be all for it and so would my family,’ she explained.
‘But that’s not the case. The documentary is basically shining a light on the person who did this to her and they’re trying to make excuses for what happened and make excuses for him.
‘They’re exploiting her, they’re posting these awful pictures from the day that it happened. They have videos of me in this.
‘Our family didn’t consent to being exploited. We don’t want to be used to portray him in a positive light. We don’t want that, we don’t want any of this to be aired, we just want him to stay in prison where he belongs.’
The documentary, which was directed by Skye Borgman, included police and trial footage, clay reenactments of the crime, and interviews with Herman, his friends and family, as well as experts on sleepwalking, with Rolling Stone reporting that there is ‘little of Brooke or the Preston family in there.’
Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism, occurs during the non-rapid-eye-movement stage of sleep, and on rare occasion, some people can become violent while they are sleepwalking without being aware of their actions.
According to Psych-Neuro.com, there have been 70 documented cases throughout history of homicidal sleepwalking. Some people in the past have used sleepwalking as a defense in court and have been found innocent.
‘There is no clear explanation why some people become violent while sleepwalking. Sleepwalkers who are suffering from stress, sleep deprivation, and depression do seem more susceptible to experiencing violent episodes than others, but there is no medical proof that negative emotions result in homicidal sleepwalking,’ Thoughtco.com reported.
Jordan slammed the network for releasing intimate footage from the moment her family found out Brooke was dead, portraying Herman in a ‘positive light,’ and ‘feeding into his lies’
The documentary, which was directed by Skye Borgman, included police and trial footage, clay reenactments of the crime, and interviews with Herman, his friends and family
According to Jordan, who lived with her sister and Herman (pictured) for six months, she never once saw him sleepwalking during their time together
Jordan (pictured with Brooke before her death) called Hulu ‘tasteless’ for making the documentary against their wishes, adding, ‘Shame on them for further hurting the victims’
‘Because there are so few cases to draw conclusions from, a comprehensive medical explanation may never be available.’
According to Jordan, who lived with her sister and Herman for six months, she never once saw him sleepwalking during their time together; however, his family testified in court that he had a history of it.
His family testified in court that he had a history of sleepwalking. During the trial, it was also brought to light that Herman (pictured) had been drinking heavily in the days leading up to the murder
During the trial, it was also brought to light that Herman had been drinking heavily in the days leading up to the murder, and that Brooke alerted one of her friends via text message that she was scared to sleep in the same house as Herman after she found him drunk and naked in her closet one day prior.
Jordan told Rolling Stone that Hulu had reached out to her family while they were making the documentary, and asked if they wanted to participate in it. But they said no and made their distain for the doc clear to the streaming service.
‘They said it was something like, they were gonna be digging into the sleepwalking defense,’ she explained.
‘They pretty much made it clear it was gonna be about him and not her. Why would we want to support anything about him? He took her from us.
‘Why does he get to speak to the world and she doesn’t? If it wasn’t about him, we probably would have gotten involved.
‘We’d love to share her story and how amazing she was. But you could just tell that wasn’t what this was.’
Brooke (seen before her death) had alerted one of her friends via text message that she was scared to sleep in the same house as Herman after she found him drunk and naked in her closet
Jordan said Hulu had reached out and asked if they wanted to participate in the doc – but she said no and made their distain clear. Brook is pictured before her tragic death
‘The documentary is shining a light on the person who did this to her and they’re trying to make excuses for what happened and for him,’ Jordan (pictured with Brooke) said on TikTok
She said she ‘didn’t know how someone could live with themselves after putting that out there.’ Brooke is pictured with Herman before her death
She told the outlet that she hadn’t watched the documentary yet, but that the ‘little piece’ she had seen was ‘tearing her apart.’
On the day before it came out, Jordan took to TikTok to share another plea with the network, stating in a video, ‘I was hoping they would have some compassion for the victim’s family who has been begging them not to air this documentary that we did not agree to.
‘Brooke’s murderer should not get to decide how or when to tell her story, it should not be incorporated with his. Hulu is wrong for allowing our family to be exploited for profit,’ Jordan added. Brooke is pictured before her death
‘We don’t want it aired. There’s some sensitive pictures and sensitive moments from our lives put into this documentary. It’s traumatizing to relive it.’
She said she ‘didn’t know how someone could live with themselves after putting that out there.’
‘I lost a lot of respect for Hulu and the production company … I understand that legally, there’s nothing wrong with it but ethically, that’s a whole different story … They’re making entertainment out of it and that’s just awful. It’s tasteless,’ she continued.
She added in one other video, ‘Shame on Hulu/Vice Media for feeding into his lies and further hurting the victims.
‘Brooke’s murderer should not get to decide how or when to tell her story, it should not be incorporated with his. Hulu is wrong for allowing our family to be exploited for profit.’
She has started a petition in an attempt to get Hulu to remove the documentary, which has received more than 127,000 signatures. DailyMail.com has reached out to Hulu for comment.