EP. 192: TENNESSEE - The Confession: A Massive Update In The April Holt Case
01:10:50 Share

Warning. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

Hello, everyone. Today's episode is an update episode, and sadly, it's not the kind of update we want to give you. Now, if you haven't listened to our episodes about the murder of April Holt, which

which were episodes 177 through 179. You have to go back now and give those a listen or you will be very confused here. But in them, we worked with April Holt's mother, Jamie Dickerson, to tell you the story about how a mother of two was strangled to death

by her estranged husband in 2023. The man in question is Donovan Holt, and he admitted to killing April that day. He also admitted to staging her death to make it look like a suicide. In the last episode about this case, we left you with the news of Donovan's arrest. And for months, we have been patiently waiting for his sentencing.

which just took place on february 18th 2025 but unfortunately his sentence was anything but justice so in this episode we are going to tell you about donovan's slap on the wrist sentence we also sat down with jamie and her husband jeremiah to hear their thoughts on everything and lastly we are going to play for you the never before heard confession

that Jamie herself got from her daughter's killer. So this is the update on the murder of April Holt. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America.

Before we get into this episode, I'm gonna give you an overview about this case. I know we already gave you a three-part series on it, but it was many months ago. So just as a refresher, April Lynn Holt was a 29-year-old living in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2023, she was building her career as a lash artist. She was a mother of two beautiful children named Serenity and Denzel, and she was also married to a man named Donovan Holt.

who was Denzel's father. Now at this point, everything in April's life was going well for her. Everything except...

her marriage. For years, April and Donovan had had one reoccurring problem, and it had to do with their finances. Now Donovan was a cook, but he had a hard time holding down a job. And in July of 2023, April Holt got a call from her apartment complex, letting her know that she was being evicted

because their rent wasn't paid. In that moment, April found out that Donovan had lied to her. He had told her that he had covered his portion of the rent and that it was taken care of when it wasn't. And it was at this very moment where April had had enough. She told Donovan that she wanted a divorce. Now they were still living together at the time, but April was done with him. She told all of her friends and family that she was moving on for good.

She had even reconnected with an old boyfriend of hers. But tragedy was right around the corner, in more ways than one. Tragically, in the days before April's death, she had met up with this man in Tennessee for a work obligation. And while there, he sexually assaulted her. Following the assault, she wrote in her journal, quote, "'I feel so ashamed, dirty, hurt.'"

I'm physically hurting." April was clearly in a tough spot in her life. She was divorcing her husband and she had just been sexually assaulted, but the worst was yet to come. On July 28th, 2023, Donovan Holt told his seven-year-old son Denzel to go check on his mom, who was in the bathroom of their apartment. And when Denzel walked into the bathroom, he found his mother unconscious in the shower with

with a bag taped over her head. From there, 911 was called and April was rushed to the hospital where she sadly succumbed to her injuries. And for the detectives in this case, their job was easy. After briefly speaking with Donovan, he told them about how April had just been sexually assaulted. He also lied and said that she had been drinking and doing a lot of drugs and that she killed herself that day. And surprisingly, they took his word for it.

Investigators didn't even step foot in April's apartment until hours after she was brought to the hospital. To them, this was an open and shut case. Without hardly investigating, the lead detective even went into the medical examiner and told her that this was a suicide. And without a proper investigation, that's exactly what they ruled April's death.

They said that she had died by suicide by taping that plastic bag around her head. But from the very beginning, April's mother, Jamie, knew that that wasn't the case. She knew that her daughter had been murdered. However, despite her efforts, no one believed her. For months and months, Jamie pleaded with investigators to take another look at the case. And she was especially worried that

because April's son Denzel was still in the custody of his father, the very man that she knew murdered her daughter.

But again, no one was listening. So finally, Jamie decided to take matters into her own hands. One day, she FaceTimed Donovan and she had a secret camera that was recording their entire conversation. And surprisingly, it's on that FaceTime where Donovan admitted to strangling April. Finally, Jamie had the evidence she needed. And after handing that video over to the police, Donovan was finally arrested.

a whole year after April's death.

Now, Jamie was happy that he was finally behind bars and that Denzel was now in her custody, but it wasn't all good news. You see, when Donovan sat down with investigators a year after April's death, he admitted that he had lied to them. "April hadn't died by suicide," he said. "He had strangled her." But he said that it was an accident. This time, Donovan claimed that they were having sex and getting a little rough.

He said he started choking her and at some point he looked down and April was unconscious. Donovan said that from there he completely staged her suicide. He put her in the shower, grabbed a plastic bag and some tape, and then wrapped the bag around her head. From there, he went out into the kitchen and he made his seven-year-old son Denzel some lunch. After eating that lunch, he then told his son, "Hey, go check on your mom."

and Denzel did what he was told. Donovan Holt not only strangled April to death and staged her suicide, but he made his own son find her body. Now, once again, when he told the police this story about choking her during sex, they believed him, and that's when they charged him with reckless homicide. But if you listen to our coverage of the episode, you'd know

that we don't believe this was an accident at all. And neither does anyone who knew and loved April. According to all of April's friends, she was done with Donovan. They were estranged. She had moved on. Her loved ones all said that April wouldn't have been having sex with him that day. And to prove that even further, April had actually written in her journal that she and Donovan were not having sex anymore.

Another reason we believe that April was not killed during sex with Donovan has to do with the sexual assault she experienced before her death.

Being sexually assaulted is an incredibly traumatic situation for anyone, and April made that very apparent in her journal entries. For most people, they don't even want to be touched afterward, let alone have violent choking sex, especially when that person is their estranged husband. But despite all of this,

Investigators believed Donovan's story and they charged him with reckless homicide. Or maybe they didn't believe him. Maybe because of their lousy investigation, that was the best they could do.

Their investigation from the very beginning was one of the most flawed investigations I have ever seen, and I think that they know that. We of course went into more detail on that throughout our coverage of the case, but maybe a reckless homicide charge was just the easiest way to put this all behind them.

So that's exactly what they charged him with. For months, Jamie Dickerson has been on edge, waiting to find out the fate of Donovan Holt, her daughter's killer. And on February 18th, 2025, that day finally came.

but it was not at all what anyone wanted. Horrifically, Donovan was sentenced to two years in jail and eight years in community corrections. Now, we didn't really know what community corrections was, but it's essentially a place where prisoners go after prison, where they're supervised. But they can still work, they can still go out into the community, and it's pretty much like they're on parole. Sadly, Donovan's sentence also included time served, so he will be out in community corrections in just 18 months.

keep in mind this is the same man who strangled his wife to death staged her suicide sent their son in to find her body and then lied to the police and the family about it for an entire year now let's just hypothesize for a second and say that april's death was an accident courtney and i personally don't believe that it was but for storytelling purposes let's just say that he did kill her during sex

In our opinion, it's crazy that he got two years, even for everything he did afterwards. Tampering with evidence, child endangerment for sending Denzel in there that day, lying to the police. There were so many crimes committed trying to cover up what was done. And at the end of the day, Donovan only got two years.

Hey, everybody. Courtney and I have a favor to ask of you. If you love Murder in America, you love our show, please leave us a five-star review wherever you listen to your podcasts, whether that's Apple Podcasts, Spotify. If you love our show and you want to help us grow, definitely consider leaving us a five-star review. Also, it helps the show so much when people share out links to our program. So if you're listening and you're loving what we're doing here, share us on your Instagram story, Twitter,

Shout us out on X. Post one of our shows on your Facebook. And let the world, your friends, your family know that you're listening to Murder in America. It seriously helps us so much. It helps us grow the show. We couldn't do this without all of you listening at home. Seriously, thank y'all. But let's get back to the story. People get longer sentences for drug charges. And this guy took someone's life.

whether it was an accident or not. We are incredibly disheartened by this sentencing and we decided to set up an interview with April's mom, Jamie, and her husband, Jeremiah, to hear their thoughts on everything.

But before we play that, we are going to play the never-before-heard footage of that FaceTime call where Jamie recorded Donovan's confession, the one that ultimately got him arrested. Now, last year when we were working on our coverage of this case, I had asked Jamie if we could use it in the episode. But because Donovan's trial was still pending,

Jamie wasn't allowed to share it with anyone, but now that it's over, she wanted to give it to us. She was so overwhelmed by all of the support that our listeners gave her when we released these episodes. You were all so kind and supportive, and we truly do have the best listeners in the world, so she wanted you guys to hear it first. Now, in it, you're going to hear Donovan talking about his marriage with April, and he doesn't paint her in the best light. But

But I want you guys to take everything he says with a grain of salt. After all, this is the same guy who staged an entire suicide and lied to the police's faces for an entire year. So he's proven himself to be a liar, someone who will say anything to keep himself out of trouble. We don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth, but without further ado, here is Donovan Holt's confession. Yeah.

I do. I'm very nervous, but I do want to because it's gonna put a lot of stuff out there about April. I promised her I would never put out there that she's never put out there and I don't know that she ever plans to put out there, but it's gonna take knowing her stuff in order to understand. Yeah. And maybe I know some of it. She was a very involved person. Yeah. And it's

The thing is, it was never an issue between us, but it was back then way more than I ever thought. Man, there was certain stuff that, it's just, I don't want anybody to judge me. She couldn't be satisfied about one person. She had to have more. You know, that's... And that kind of stuff is nuts. You know, people looking at her like this. I used to tell her, I was like, when I first saw you, I was like, I thought you were going to be uptight and

I said, but when you get to know you, I said, it's, you're like one of the homies. And it's like, that's a rare thing. I hear to find somebody that's beautiful and earned, I guess. I know. It made it, I don't want to say it became a problem, but it affected a lot of other stuff. Like it kept to the point of people I introduced her to, now they want to, they're finding out information from me so that they can go behind my back and try to have a relationship and build a relationship.

So, like I said, there was a lot of stuff that I didn't know. I know. You guys had an open relationship at times, but then it just... It was just trickling out of control. And I think once you went to the boat and then you came back, I think then she had that freedom for a minute. Oh, yeah. So, in the...

In our relationship, every, I mean, it started early. It started in our first year. She had went back and messed around with Anthony and went back and messed around with Dion. And that's when it hurt. But we got, I got through it. I was like, you know, we'll get through this. And we did, but this guy, his name was Anthony as well. And I had to, if you looked at her messages, his name was either Ant or A-W-A.

And he was somebody that was introduced, or put it like this, in our nine years of being together or whatever, I mentioned about him for seven. He was introduced as a friend, as a homeboy, and that was kind of her go-to guy. Where'd she meet him? I don't even know this guy. Riverdale. Oh. Yeah, I guess. But apparently that was her go-to guy. And eventually it kind of became one of those things I just had to,

I understand. But that's hurtful. It is hurtful. And it...

That's horrible. Yeah, but you know, she was then, you know, it's good. But when you're telling me, at least I can almost also then see like, that's a lot on her head.

as well because when you walk around and you know you're doing something that everybody else is not going to be favorable for and yet you're trying because I know in her heart she wanted to walk this Christian path but then it's like having a good and a bad you know on your shoulders and it's like a constant like wait I want to do this but this isn't my year over here and this and that's really hard and I know she loved you

I know she loves you. But she would say the same about you. She would literally say, Donovan is my best friend. So even though I don't know that we should be married, she said, he's my best friend. And I said, I get that. But it's okay to co-parent. Like, people co-parent. But at the same time, I know that your love for her, that level of love, is hard to give up.

Yeah. Because you're tearing.

Yeah, she got into the mindset of like, I'm a goddess and a goddess can have as many people as they want because you have this energy and you can give it to more than one person. And so it was a lot of times, she referred to me, and this was an in-the-house thing, she referred to me as her bottom because I was the guy who was always at the house and took care of things or whatever, but when she wanted to, she felt like she should have the freedom to do so. And I was never the one to be like,

all the paying all the bills you got to do this it's kind of like okay but i'll be here when you get back but it was hard i mean it was hard it wasn't easy i'm not gonna sit there i'll never sit there and say it was yeah so you know we had went through all that and then it was all it was a lot of lies as well you know just in the sense of it so let me reference something that was brought up and the whole thing about

people didn't know and i told everyone i would keep it with what she wanted to go with i never cheated on it um april of course for all this going on i entertained the conversation with somebody online somebody i never met before but it was just like daily check-ins and i had sent them up to i think it's over a course of a couple months it was like a hundred dollars in the span of like twenty dollars per bunch or gas or whatever

Right.

I don't know if you're, well, I know you remember, but when we lived in Atlanta and we came back and we're living at Nana's house. Yeah. No, I remember all that going down. And here's, and she told me that it was just an online thing with you, like some kind of phone relationship or whatever. She did tell me that. She did tell me that it was a phone thing.

because i had asked her i was like well were they ever physically you know sexual did they do and she said no she was honest about that she just said that she was so mad but she didn't you know i didn't know about her end of anything i just knew about urine you know so like and that was my thing i just i never wanted to make her look bad at all even when things going on to me it was like okay we can handle this in-house and it was hard to you know it's hard to

bring that even now it's hard to bring that kind of stuff you know to somebody's mom or somebody's family or people who see her a certain way i didn't want i didn't want to be the person that changed the way she looked to people because she because at the end of the day it's not putting on the front she is the great she was a great person like i know outside of those things that she needed but when i went to the we were not we were not in a relationship and at that time she had got

What? Yeah.

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Did Zach know?

No, Zach did not know about... Ross. I was gonna say, he wouldn't have probably... Zach's kind of more temperamental, I would say. Yeah. And, yeah, so... Mocha, come here. Leave Marvin alone. Sorry. No, no, you're all right. So she had that going on, and it was just, like I said, I'm on the boat just kind of getting all this information and sitting with it all day. Like, it was a lot on my mental, so...

Right.

So, coming, you know, April, she had cut back off, but she still had

He probably didn't. Yeah.

Yeah.

I knew April was not going to take no shit. I could not come off that boat and not be working. So, you know, I mean, that's how it was. You know, we had the situation with the car where I couldn't keep up the payments. So I was big on like, I need my money to be right.

So I told the restaurant owner that had promised me $1,000 a week. And this was actually a family company, to be honest with you. Promised me $1,000 a week. I'm like, are you positive? Yes, I got you. When you come in, just come do your interview. So I went and did my interview. I quit my job on the boat and came back home thinking, you know, this is all taken care of. He ditched me, basically. So it was, April was the period of,

She never got in any fights in school, but she said she was dangerous with her words. I am too. I get it. I know. It's a problem. So that was a big issue in my house. She would say what she wanted to say, and I took it. I could take it, but it couldn't make any money. I was doing what I could to maintain what I could with my business, but being gone for those months, my clientele had went elsewhere.

And I was like, I was really trying. I was trying and it wasn't enough for her. And so there was one point she had kicked me out and it was fine. You know, I would walk two hours every day back to the apartment to wash the clothes and cook the food and then I'd have to be back out the house. And that was about a three month period. And then I got back in the house and I got my job with the security company and things were kind of getting better. And then she...

And I guess he had rubbed her leg and she didn't like that, so she had cut that business off.

I had picked up another shift from my security job to cover what she was going to be making.

Yeah.

Right.

I mean, that's what she came and told me. And I mean, Denzel was there when she came in like that. But

It was because the way she stood in front of the mirror and had, I mean, she had bruises all down her breasts. She had bruises on her thighs. She had bruises on her chest, on her neck. And I do think that at some point something happened where she wasn't aware of what was going on. Everything, you know, I told you was straightforward as far as like, you know, she, she shut down. She went to the doctor. She just wasn't herself. And when that day came, the, like a weird perk up, but it was,

It felt good because she was kind of back to herself from being... Because after it happened, like I said, all she wanted to do was go back to work. That's all she could focus on. I got to go to work. I got to go to work. Like, you need to go to the hospital. No, I got to go to work. I have to work. Yeah. And so I know she had talked to Zach. I know she had talked to the aunt guy. And so the day that everything went down,

I promise. I promise.

She was like, no. She was like, have sex with me.

Like, no, because in my mind, you just went through this situation. She's like, no, have sex with my husband. I said, all right. So we have sex on the floor. In that process, she's like, okay, just being honest, it wasn't unusual for April to want to be choked during sex. It was one of her things. And she was like, so, you know, we were doing that. And she was like, harder. And I'm like, no.

And she punched me. It was like in my chest. She was like, harder. And I was like, okay. So I was on top. And I was doing it harder. And I was doing it harder. And she didn't make it out of that situation. And I'm telling you now, I panicked. I took her to the shower. I put her in the water. I'm like, wake up. She didn't wake up. Not going to lie to you, Jamie. I panicked. And I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to explain it. I didn't know what to tell. So I

I'm so glad you're telling me the truth.

That's something she did elsewhere and I'm trying to satisfy her needs. So there it is, the confession that ultimately got Donovan Holt arrested. After recording it, Jamie immediately handed it over to the police, and thankfully she did, or Donovan Holt probably never would have been behind bars in the first place for killing his wife. Jamie Dickerson is the sole reason that there's any semblance of justice here, for lack of a better word. But like we mentioned, the outcome of this case is not what anybody wanted.

If you love Murder in America, you love mysteries, you love true crime, you love murder stories and the unknown, then I have a new show for you. It's called The Conspiracy Files and it's hosted by me, Colin Browen, from Murder in America and The Paranormal Files. On The Conspiracy Files, we explore everything from bizarre deaths to freak paranormal events, pedophile rings...

government corruption, ritual sacrifice. No topic is untouched on this show. Everything that we talk about on the conspiracy files is backed up with fact. I release reference sheets with every single episode that we do. So you guys know everything we're talking about is confirmed to have happened and be real. It's a completely different type of show than anything else you've ever seen about conspiracy theories. Instead of a bunch of conjecture and theories,

We're presenting you people with facts, telling you the story, walking you through the story just as detailed as we do with Murder in America, and then letting the listener decide what they think. Anyways, you should definitely give it a listen. It's called The Conspiracy Files. The links are in the description of this show, and you can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And now let's get back to our story.

Following Donovan's sentence, Courtney and I called Jamie and her husband Jeremiah on Zoom to discuss everything. So here are some parts of that interview. They told me that it was going to be the two years and one month is what they told me. They were like, so you can agree. This is what I had to do. They were like, you can agree to the two years, one month and eight years probation, which added up to Denzel being 18.

Because he couldn't get off the eight years early. Or I could take the chance and bring it before the judge. He might get an extra one year in jail, but that judge could have taken it off of his record and he wouldn't have had a felony. And in addition to that, the eight years could have been less. And I could have, that would have been like me playing, you know, a game of, hey, I would lose Denzel. And I was like, I'm not willing to lose Denzel. So, yeah.

No. So they're like, well, you chose this. I was like, no, I didn't choose it. I didn't have a choice. Right. No. So they let you, they kind of gave you the two options and they said, which one would you rather do? And that was just. And I asked him, I said, is that judge, you know, how is this judge? Is she pretty hard on these type of cases? And they're like, well, there's a likelihood that she'll take it off of his record. And I said, absolutely not. Why would this ever be taken off of a record? No, absolutely. I'm just so confused by it all.

The whole thing is insane. It is insane. And we posted about it just like a little snippet on our Instagram, just like the results and everyone, like hundreds of comments of people saying like, I am so shocked. But at the same time, I'm not because of how they handled it from the very beginning. I was so- I think it's their way of like-

not having to admit that they were wrong all the way because if they would have done like first or second degree murder then it would have looked like they didn't do their job at all you know and it would have proved them completely incompetent whereby this it's like well we have to do something because she did get a confession so and she's been calling us out on our wrongdoings all this time so this is how we're going to pay her back yeah and i'm like

What are you paying back? You're going to let somebody back out into society that shouldn't be. It doesn't make any sense. No. None of it makes sense. I can't understand why they have such a hard time seeing the truth, especially like when it's all there. Yeah. It's right in front of them. It's right here in front of them.

Like the way that you guys have spelled it out, the way that we spelled it out in the podcast, it's like very, very obvious what actually happened. So it's one of those things where for us, it's like sitting and actually analyzing what they said and what they've done. It just makes no sense at all whatsoever. It's like they're just they've been up against us.

This whole time, but like almost like on his side, like on Donovan's side, like you would think he knew somebody in there with the way that it's went. And I was like, there's no way that this judge or any of these detectives would have. This would not have been this way if it was their family. Is this only because it's us? Like they would have never done this. They give people with DUIs more time. That's I was a murderer. Yes. People get like drugged, like weed charges. You're going to get more. Yes. Yes.

It is insane. It's insane. I cannot believe it. So he will be spending two years in prison. Well, he only has 18 more months. Oh, yeah, because it's with time served, right? Yeah.

So 18 months, and then he's going to be moving to, I had never even heard of what that other- Community Corrections, I think. Is that what it's called? Community Corrections? Yeah, that sounds right. I think that's the name. Yeah, I don't know what that is. But somebody explained to me was that it's almost like he's then protected because he's in a place that they placed him, and now he's still going to be protected from-

society because now his face is about everywhere living the life because he's not in a prison he's just in the local jail and they said that they're not moving him because he'll be out in 18 months that's crazy so he's not actually having to like go to like one of those really hard places right he's just he was actually on the video game that denzel was on and denzel's like look my dad is um logged in here i was like

So I had went and told the DCS attorney. I was like, how come they're allowed to play video games in there and reach out to the outside world? And she's like, they are. They're allowed to do that. He used to play video games? Yes, he was playing video games. They're allowed to accept. They have internet so they can reach the outside world.

That is insane. That's crazy.

sheriff's department, like his criminal case has, they wouldn't help us at all with custody. So we had to have that added on our custody hearing. And we had a portion added on there that says until he's fulfilled all legal obligations, he can't take me to court, take us to court. And so he

He has to fulfill all of those eight years, which then Denzel will be 18. If I wouldn't have had that added, who knows if he could have got him back? Oh, I know. And with how things have gone, he probably could have. Probably would have.

I don't know about you guys, but I like keeping my money where I can see it. Unfortunately, traditional big wireless carriers also seem to like keeping my money too. After years of overpaying for wireless, I finally got fed up from crazy high wireless bills, bogus fees, and free perks that actually cost more in the long run and switched to Mint Mobile. It's crazy how much these big carriers like to charge you for every little thing. It's like clockwork. When it's time to pay my wireless bill, I'm like, oh my.

This is crazy. You're charging me for this and that, but not with Mint Mobile. You can say bye-bye to your overpriced wireless plans, jaw-dropping monthly bills, and unexpected overages because Mint Mobile is here to rescue you with premium wireless plans starting at $15 a month. All plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. You can use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan,

and bring your phone number along with all of your existing contacts. So it's incredibly easy and painless to switch over. And I think it's about time to ditch overpriced wireless and get three months of premium wireless service from Mint Mobile for just 15 bucks a month. If you like your money, Mint Mobile is for you. Shop plans at mintmobile.com slash America.

That's mintmobile.com/america. Upfront payment of $45 for three month five gigabyte plan required equivalent to $15 a month. New customer offer for first three months only then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra see Mint Mobile for details. And now let's get back to our story. In this next part, Jamie talks about a paper that the police department sent her and attached was something called a tort act where it essentially says that the police department can't be held liable for their mistakes in the investigation.

And then I got that paper this morning saying that they're immune from even being reprimanded for the actions that these police have had, like that they're immune to it. Because I had placed a claim with like their legal department and I've placed three claims and every time they keep kicking it back and I was like, no, I want to know why. Why is this allowed? And finally they sent me this thing saying, well, they're immune to it. How are you immune to it? So you can just say and do whatever you feel like. And they're protected. Pretty much. Yeah. Pretty much.

Yeah, that's something that Colin really wants to talk about too. Like in his, the documentary that he's going to be working on soon. He like,

The way that the whole entire case was handled from beginning to end. I hate corruption more than anything, especially from these people that are supposed to protect it. And they just protect themselves. It's just sitting. If they protect a sir, who are they protecting? It really makes me wonder, like, why? I don't know. I don't know. It's very, I'm just so confused. I don't.

I don't understand any of it to be I mean I'm just baffled by the entire thing I've never thought in a million years if you had to live such a nightmare that then you would have to have this kind of outcome corrupt justice system at least if you had to go through a child that was murdered you would think that

the system would be on your side trying to get that person off the street and get justice. And they've been completely up against us the entire time, up until still.

From the very beginning. Yeah. Yeah. There's nothing I can do. That's the frustrating part is like I've exhausted every outcome. Now all I can do is call them out. Now all I can do is point the finger and let people know, hey, this is what you this is what you guys are relying on to to protect your family. And so that's why I was like, I'll keep calling them out. It doesn't bother me. They didn't do anything for me.

No, exactly. And also, you wouldn't even let anyone see that video because you were trying to protect the outcome of this case. Yeah. Like when we covered the story months ago, like I was like, can I hear Donovan in that face? I can't, which totally is.

And I've never released it up until now. That's why I told you. I was like, if I'm going to release it, then I want you guys to have it. And I think he doesn't start to confess until like 20-something minutes in. So first you have to listen to him go on and on about nothingness. Right. Trying to talk with people all nice. Yeah. Beat around it. And then tell me that you killed my kid. Like it's a normal conversation to have with somebody. And then I'm supposed to sit there calmly and just not react because I knew Denzel was still there. So I was like...

okay now you just sit here call me and act like you're not because he was looking at my face and i'm like what if he does something what if he snaps again so it took me a couple minutes for something that it took them weeks to do yeah at the first time it took him literally a couple minutes and they they wanted to like they kept saying they needed april's phone for so long because they took everything off her phone and so he wouldn't even give us the phone back after we gave it to him

They gave it back to Donovan. Then he used it as his own phone until he was arrested. He just turned it into his phone. I just don't even get how he can't be charged and, like, given a longer sentence just based on the lying to police. Yes. Yeah. That part right there. Just tampering with the body and everything. Yes, I don't understand how you can, like –

somebody can actually confess to a murder. Like they actually, this isn't something that they're trying to prove. He's actually said he did it. And then they're like, well, you can have two years.

It was an accident. And it was an accident. And then they want to believe him after he lied. And one of his charges is actually lying. And now you want to believe him again. I'm like, oh, that makes a lot of sense. It was falsifying a report. And yet you want to believe him that he unaccidentally did this. After he lied about it to your faces for months. Twice. Twice. Two interviews. Two interviews he lied about it and said that, no, he didn't do it.

And I told them, like, when I even placed my claim, I was like, you guys should, the police should be liable for putting Denzel for 10 months in danger. Anything could have happened to him, not to mention the mental health.

like deterioration that had happened in that 10 months that we had to try to, now he's on medicine and he's in, you know, his trauma therapy and a psychiatrist. And, but like how much more damage was caused because of that 10 months and he didn't get immediate help. And I'm like, they don't take response. They're immune to it all. They don't have to, there's nothing. They don't have to do anything. And,

And like, not only did Denzel have to be around it, but then the mental games that Donovan was playing with him being like, you're talking to people and he told him it was his fault. Yeah. Insane. And then the police are like, that's not our problem. Oh my God. They didn't care at all. They're like, custody is something completely different. I'm like, craziness.

Gosh, well, that's again, I'm calling. He gets way more views on his stuff than the podcast even does. We just appreciate you guys. We were like, it's not even as much about views. It's that you guys get it and you guys get the frustration that's behind this system. And that's why I was like.

I mean, Jeremiah hasn't even talked to anybody but you guys. Like, he doesn't even talk to anybody. For him to even get on here, like, he doesn't talk to nobody. He's like, leave me out of it. So, you know, he likes you guys because otherwise he'd be downstairs playing his video game right now. We appreciate you, Jeremiah. We're so excited to share the story with even more people, especially now that we have more, it's more of a conclusion for lack of a better word, you know? I think that

Oh, sorry. I think that, yeah, I just, Colin has so many people on his YouTube that will be just as outraged as we are and our listeners were. And I think now that we have the conclusion and it's so incredibly disappointing, it's like, we are going to put these people on blast and we're going to make sure. Well, the more people that can start pointing fingers, the more they're going to have to start to think about, Hey, I'm going to do my job a little better. Cause I'm going to do my job a little better.

I'm going to be called out. And so the more people that will start to have a backbone and actually call them out, they're going to have to change their ways because people don't just keep putting up with it. It's that people are scared of them and they don't want to upset them. And probably for the kind of outcome we got of the two years, they don't want to risk that.

But to let them get away with it, absolutely not. I'm like, I'm not going to let that happen either. I do go to a commissioner meeting in March to help try to get a medical examiner office closer to where we are because it's like the fourth biggest county and they don't have one. And where April's body was sent, 66 counties send their bodies there. And so they're not getting enough attention per case.

And so I'm helping them try to get one. And they're using April's case as their case study. And they're hoping to use it for training nationwide. So that's actually a positive. That's such great news, especially because I think like the –

The medical examiner part of April's story is such another just huge fail in the system. Like, how would you not see what happened to her? The bruises. It's because the detective went in there and put it in their head ahead of time. Exactly. And then with all the false things throughout the report of, like, websites, things like that, I'm like, they planted seeds the whole time. So anybody that read

that automatically thought, well, she was looking up suicide sites when she wasn't, that she was on drugs and alcohol, which she wasn't. And you're just like, they kept making, they painted a picture of her that was so wrong and it wasn't who she was. And they just all believed it from the very get go. And so that's why I'm trying to get it where the investigator isn't allowed to have any say or be in the autopsy until it's been done completely. Let it be a medical thing.

Evaluation only first. Yes. And then put all the pieces, but don't add their opinion to your report. No. And I can't believe that's not protocol already. Like that's, it's not crazy. I know. And so I don't get it. So those are some of the changes that I'm working with them. So the death investigation team in Rutherford County, that's who I'm working with. And so, um,

I'm really just hoping that those are changes that we can get made. And if they can use her as a case study nationwide, then go for it. I said, I'm all for that.

Now, Jamie didn't end up going to Donovan's sentencing trial. It was too disappointing of a day, and she was afraid of how Donovan would react. She said that one look in her direction, one facial expression, might have set her off, so she decided not to. So, if you would have gone to the hearing, you would have been able to read your impact statement, correct? Or no, you just didn't? I could have, and they actually said they would read it for me, but I told them...

No. I told them they can't read my words. So I just posted it publicly. Here's the video that Jamie posted of her victim impact statement. July 29th, 2023 was a day I will never forget. A piece of my soul was taken from this earth, from her children, from her family and friends, and from her future plans. I didn't get to look in April's eyes that day to see her pain. I didn't get to rescue her. The questions of, did she suffer?

Was she scared her last moments of life? Did she fight for her life? And did she cry, "will always haunt my mind"? Her eyes' last vision was looking into the eyes of the man who took her hand in marriage and promised to protect her and love her. The man she loved and the hands that she held feeling comforted in the end were the same hands that wrapped around her neck, taking her life away. The courts like to see this as an act of reckless homicide.

After her breath was taken from her, she was treated as a piece of garbage. And that's what destroys me to the core. She was drugged to the shower and a garbage bag was placed over her head and then taped. Donovan then proceeded to go into the next room and eat lunch with their seven-year-old son, who he then sent in the bathroom to find his mother dead lying there on the floor. The mindset is that of someone who has a mental illness. The mindset is not of reckless homicide, but rather a premeditated act of murder.

This was not an accidental death. The actions that took place after April was no longer breathing were intentional and deliberate. He staged April's death as a suicide. He had a bag and tape ready and prepared where no person would think to wrap up their spouse's head and take the bag if their partner, who they claimed to love, was not breathing. In a sexual act, a partner would make all attempts to rescue their spouse.

The lies began the second the 911 call was made and the procedures that followed were nothing short of erratical. April was born into this world as a gift from God to me, her mother. I watched her grow up into the beautiful, amazing, loving woman she had become. She loved and adored her two children and often talked about how excited she was for her their futures.

She spoke about how she was looking forward to buying a home within the next year, opening a training studio to teach others to do lashes, foster children, and continue to grow in youth ministry leadership roles. April was as soft as a feather, floating to the ground with such ease and calmness. April was a friend to all and even wore her smile when I knew she didn't want to.

April was the first of what our family calls the first six, which are the first six grandkids who were raised so close together that they were like siblings. All of that was taken from her and from us. She didn't ask to die. She did not take her own life. Like Donovan told many people, including her children, this lie was thought to be true by so many people for almost a year. So many people thought April was that sad and none of us even were aware.

I knew in my heart that is not what happened and Donovan met me each week with months to exchange Denzel and looked me in my eyes knowing what he had done to my daughter. Knowing that I was fighting for justice, knowing he sent his seven-year-old son in that bathroom that day to find his mom dead on the floor. We have experienced every parent's worst nightmare. We live with this pain for the rest of our lives and a hole in our hearts that can never be filled. There will always be an empty chair,

at the table and at all of life's milestones that her children reached. This was all taken by the hands of another human being who has been given charges as if he simply made a mistake. It was not a mistake to lie about what happened. It was not a mistake to treat April like a piece of garbage. It was not a mistake to send Denzel in the bathroom, traumatizing him forever. It was not a mistake to tamper with evidence. It was not a mistake to falsify a report. This was intentional homicide of an innocent person.

I am a Christian woman with faith that I didn't even know I had. Through this tragedy in my life, I have found that I am much stronger than I ever thought. I won't walk around with an anger that strips me of the person I've been created to be. I will walk in the spirit and not the flesh, raising April's two children, Serenity and Denzel, to have loving hearts. They will carry their memories of their mom in them always, and we will channel our energy of missing her into giving back just like she would want us to.

We have a grief center opened, which now we don't, but we have Grieve With Me Still, the nonprofit. I pray that Donovan asks for true forgiveness for his actions. I pray for eternity with Christ because I can't imagine the alternative. As I read this statement, there are simply just words. These are simply just words to everybody. This is part of a procedure for sentencing and considered to be a privilege to read a letter.

You allow me to say a few last words to the courts and the murderer of my daughter. To me, this was my flesh and blood. This was not just a file for your filing cabinet like it has been treated since day one. This was my child. This is not just another number in the log of how many homicides happened this past year.

This was the mother of my grandchildren. April Holt was a person. April Holt was a case that I pray makes an impact to the entire justice system of all the wrongs that happened in her investigation and that through these mistakes, changes are made.

I will make it my mission as her mother to get policies and procedures changed so that no family has to endure grieving while investigating their own child's case because the system failed them and refused to listen or see the facts presented to them numerous times. When you hear the name April Holt from this point forward, hear an echo of the change that is to come. We all stand before God one day and take account for our actions and lack thereof.

The justice system was intended to protect and serve and I tell my grandkids that there are two justices, one on earth and one in heaven. So just know that whatever is seen or heard here is seen and heard there as well. And each person in uniform will stand on this side of the podium answering to a much higher calling one day.

Jamie said that although she didn't get to confront him in court, she has written to him several times since he's been in jail. Donovan also has written Serenity and Denzel. Now, he's written Denzel and Serenity on the holidays. He'll send them, like, something and he'll, like, draw them a picture. Serenity throws it away and doesn't read it. She's like, I don't want to have anything to do with him. And Denzel reads his. Right. Right.

You know, I kind of just tell the kids they're entitled to their opinions. I don't think Denzel quite gets what happened to him yet. I think it's going to take till he's older. And I think it's going to be waves of like, oh, my gosh, my dad actually sent me in there. I don't think he gets it right now. I mean, yeah. So hard to grab. Yeah. So we kind of just like instead of.

Like, we don't really bring it up much. It's kind of just when we found out about the sentencing, we told the kids and Denzel's like, well, I'm happy because my dad will be back out.

And he's like, people should get second chances. I said, you don't get a second chance at killing people. Like, I'm very blunt about it. And then Serenity is like, well, you know, she's pissed. Like, she's like total opposite. She's my feisty little fireball. She's like, oh, no, this is unacceptable. So she's very mad. So I tried to tell them. I was like, because we have a difference of opinion in our house, because he asked me how I felt. And I told him, I said, do you really want to know? And he said, yeah. And I was like, I'm mad. I was like, mommy's gone forever.

Daddy should not get to be out in this world just walking around. And so I did kind of like I told him the honest truth. But I also just said, in our home, we have to respect each other and what we feel. And if you're at a family function, because my family's ticked, you know, like everybody's ticked. Our families are not OK with this. But I said, OK.

I told everybody, don't talk about it around the kids. And if they do, the kids can walk in any room and say, can we please change the subject? Because it makes me uncomfortable. Giving them a way out because it's just so much for them to process. What about, so the grief center, that's, that was, it didn't end up working out. It was just costing us more and more money. We didn't get the help in the community like we thought we were going to get.

We put so much in it and it was and it's so sad because it was like we put so much in it and it was like no community support. So we just redesigned it. And I now send out comfort packages to kids that lose parents.

So our packages from home have like a teddy bear and a blanket and a grief book and coloring pencils and then a handwritten card. And then we wrap it all in gold because that was April's favorite color. And we put a gold dragonfly on it. And we just are sending those out for free to kids that lose a parent. So yeah,

It makes me happy and we've already have kids that are signing up and I haven't even really posted about it yet because I wanted to have supplies. I don't want to like have a bunch of kids sign up and then I don't have supplies. But it still lets us keep the nonprofit open and we just feel like maybe God just had us do it in a different way. I mean, it's sad because we like the kids and me liked the grief center, but

to spend that much money a month. It was like a little over 3000 a month with all the bills and to spend that. And then I'd have to go and sit there and nobody was coming in. And we were just like,

Is this really beneficial for us as a family? Or if the community is not using it, then it's not a need or nobody wants to, you know, to use it as a need. So I was like, okay, well, kids are 850 kids in a day lose a parent in the United States. And so that's a need. And I don't want any kid to feel like they don't have someone that loves them. So I was like, this is just our way of

Reaching out and just giving them a hug through a box. I love that. And I think that that's you can have a wider reach with that. We're doing it. We're doing the whole United States. That's beautiful. I think that is so good. And, you know, a door closing like that is just it means that another one's going to open for you. And it wasn't meant it wasn't meant to be.

So this is the final episode of our April Holt series. And like we mentioned, it's not the outcome that any of us wanted, but it's also the outcome that we all expected. After all, you can't really convict someone of murder

when the police department in charge of the investigation didn't do a proper investigation. In our opinion, Donovan Holt got incredibly lucky. If April's case would have had a more competent department handling things, we are confident that this outcome would have been different. But you can't turn back time. So all we can hope going forward is that April's case can make a difference in future cases, that the police department will realize their mistakes

and they'll do better next time, so that no other family has to go through what April's family went through, and that next time, maybe justice will actually be served.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline number is 1-800-799-7233. If you are in a situation where you can't call, you can also text them to get help. All you have to do is text the word START to 88788.

Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. I know this wasn't like a typical episode of our show, but we were incredibly involved with telling this story and you know. But when we first decided to cover the April Holt story, we dove headfirst into everything.

And now at this point, we're very good friends with Jamie, her husband Jeremiah, their family, and we felt that an update like this was definitely warranted. Because if there's one word I can use to describe this entire case and affair, I would choose the word injustice. It is absolutely crazy to me to see how this case turned out, with all of the evidence, everything that was found and discovered, but it's inspired Courtney and I to continue fighting, and I hope that Jamie's words can inspire you guys at home as well.

If you want to join us on Patreon, just head to patreon.com and search for Murder in America. You can get access to bonus episodes of the show on there, plus ad-free early access to all of our main feed episodes. So if you don't like the ads, consider joining us on Patreon. If you haven't followed us on Instagram yet, make sure to follow us at Murder in America to see photos from every single case that we cover. And also be sure to leave us a five-star review wherever you listen to this show. It really helps us out a lot.

Anyways, y'all, we will be back next week with a regular episode of the show. But next week is that story that I've wanted to share for a long time that I definitely feel needs more awareness raised around it. Anyways, y'all, have a great weekend. I'll catch y'all on the next one.