EP. 192: TENNESSEE - The Confession: A Massive Update In The April Holt Case

In today’s episode, we speak with Jamie and Jeremiah, victim April Holt’s parents, about some recent major developments in the case and what justice looks like to them. In addition, we reveal for the very first time the shocking confession that kickstarted this criminal case in the first place. - Listen to our new show, "THE CONSPIRACY FILES"!: -Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5IY9nWD2MYDzlSYP48nRPl -Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/id1752719844 -Amazon/Audible - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ab1ade99-740c-46ae-8028-b2cf41eabf58/the-conspiracy-files -Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/PC:1001089101 -iHeart - https://iheart.com/podcast/186907423/ -PocketCast - https://pca.st/dpdyrcca -CastBox - https://castbox.fm/channel/id6193084?country=us - Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel - (c) BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS 2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Hey, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I don't know if you've heard, but Mint's premium wireless is $15 a month. But I'd like to offer one other perk. We have no stores. That means no small talk. Crazy weather we're having. No, it's not. It's just weather. It is an introvert's dream. Give it a try at mintmobile.com/switch.

• 0:23Speaker 01

  Upfront payment of $45 for three-month plan. $15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first three months only. Then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com.

• 0:30Speaker 02

  When an intruder approaches a home, they expect a camera. What they don't expect.

• 0:34Speaker 03

  Stop. This is SimpliSafe. Police are on the way.

• 0:36Speaker 02

  Using smart AI cameras, live US-based agents help deter intruders in under 30 seconds. Don't just record a break-in, stop it from ever happening. Plans starting around $1 a day. Right now, get 70% off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com/spotify.

• 0:53Speaker 04

  30 seconds response time. Requires monitoring plan with outdoor protection. Starting at $49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com/licenses for alarm license information. From the studio that brought you WandaVision.

• 1:02Speaker 05

  I was an Avenger, but I'm not a hero anymore.

• 1:08Speaker 06

  The Vision returns for the final chapter of the groundbreaking trilogy. That family wasn't real. You sure about that? I had a father called Vision. How is this possible?

• 1:19Speaker 06

  Don't miss the two-episode premiere of Marvel Television's Vision Quest. Nothing bonds a family together quite like Mortal Jeopardy. Now streaming, only on Disney+. 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.

• 1:42Courtney Brown?

  Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children.

• 1:48Speaker 06

  This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

• 1:53Courtney Brown?

  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 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.

• 2:35Courtney Brown?

  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 Brown.

• 3:17Speaker 06

  And I'm Colin Brown.

• 3:18Courtney Brown?

  And you're listening to Murder in America.

• 4:26Courtney Brown?

  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.

• 5:11Courtney Brown?

  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 the 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.

• 5:54Courtney Brown?

  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," end quote. 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 twenty eighth, twenty twenty three, Donovan Holt told his seven-year-old son Denzel to go check on his mom,

• 6:35Courtney Brown?

  who was in the bathroom of their apartment. And when Denzel walked into the bathroom, he found his mother unconscious in the shower with a bag taped over her head. From there, nine one one 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.

• 7:19Courtney Brown?

  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.

• 7:59Courtney Brown?

  And she was especially worried 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.

• 8:40Courtney Brown?

  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.

• 9:25Courtney Brown?

  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 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.

• 10:06Courtney Brown?

  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,

• 10:49Courtney Brown?

  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.

• 11:08Speaker 06

  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,

• 11:50Speaker 06

  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,

• 12:35Speaker 06

  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.

• 12:51Speaker 06

  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, 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, 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.

• 13:36Courtney Brown?

  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.

• 14:20Courtney Brown?

  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 gonna hear Donovan talking about his marriage with April, and he doesn't paint her in the best light. 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.

• 15:04Courtney Brown?

  We don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth, but without further ado, here is Donovan Holt's confession.

• 15:14Speaker 03

  I do wanna have this talk.

• 15:16Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 15:17Speaker 03

  I do, I'm, I'm very nervous, but I do want, because it's gonna, you're gonna put a lot of stuff out there about April that I've nev- I promised her I would never put out there that she's never put out there and I don't know that she ever planned to put out there, but it's gonna

• 15:35Speaker 03

  take knowing certain stuff in order to understand it.

• 15:38Speaker 06

  Yeah. And maybe I know some of it.

• 15:42Speaker 03

  She

• 15:45Speaker 03

  she was a very

• 15:49Speaker 03

  involved person.

• 15:51Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 15:52Speaker 03

  And it's

• 15:55Speaker 03

  the thing is, it was never an issue between us, but

• 16:04Speaker 03

  it affected her way more than I ever thought it would.

• 16:08Speaker 03

  And there were certain stuff that

• 16:19Speaker 03

  Yes, sir.

• 16:21Speaker 03

  I don't want, I don't want anybody to judge April. She couldn't be satisfied about one person, she had to have multiple.

• 16:28Speaker 06

  You know, that's

• 16:29Speaker 03

  That's not, and that kinda stuff is not

• 16:33Speaker 03

  not something I want people looking at her like this. I always used to tell her, I was like, you're, I was like, when I first saw you, I was like, I thought you were gonna 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

• 16:52Speaker 03

  down there, I guess.

• 16:53Speaker 06

  I know.

• 16:55Speaker 03

  But that, it, it made us

• 16:58Speaker 03

  I don't wanna say it became a problem, but it, it affected a lot of other stuff, like it kept to the point of people I introduced her to, now they wanna, 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 it like, like I said, there, there was a lot of stuff that I did know.

• 17:22Speaker 06

  I know, you guys had an open relationship at times, but then

• 17:27Speaker 06

  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.

• 17:37Speaker 03

  So, yeah, so in the, so in our, in our relationship, every, I mean, it started early. It started in our, in our first year, she went back and messed around with Anthony and went back and messed around with Deion. And that's, that's when it hurts. But we got, I got through it. I was like, you know, well, you know, we'll get this. And we did get through it, but then there was this guy, coincidentally enough, his name was Anthony as well. And that too, well, I don't know, if you looked at her messages, uh, his name was, it was either Ant or A W. And he was somebody that was introduced, or put it like that, she, in our nine years

• 18:20Speaker 03

  of being together or whatever, he had been messing around with her for seven. He was introduced as a friend, as a homeboy, and that was kind of her go-to guy.

• 18:29Speaker 06

  Where'd she meet him? I never, I, I don't even know this guy.

• 18:34Speaker 03

  Uh, Riverdale.

• 18:38Speaker 03

  Yeah, she, I, I guess, yeah, at Riverdale and, um, but apparently that was her go-to guy. And eventually I found out and it, it became one of those things I just had to, I had to deal. She was like, I'm either gonna have both of y'all or I'm gonna have him because there were certain things that I, I have to be able to speak freely.

• 19:01Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 19:02Speaker 03

  There's, there are certain things that she liked sexually that I was not willing to do or willing to participate in.

• 19:10Speaker 06

  I understand.

• 19:11Speaker 03

  So she had somebody who could and would.

• 19:16Speaker 03

  And like I said, I mean, that was.

• 19:17Speaker 06

  But that's hurtful.

• 19:20Speaker 03

  It is hurtful and it, it, over the years, like, yeah, there were more people, there were different people. We had talked about it and she, she, from what she would tell me is she enjoyed it too much and stuff. She didn't want, uh, so, I mean, we, like I said, we went through years like this.

• 19:38Speaker 06

  That's horrible.

• 19:39Speaker 03

  So, but then, and like I said, this is all stuff I kept because.

• 19:42Speaker 06

  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, a good and a bad, you know, on your shoulders.

• 20:13Speaker 06

  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 loved.

• 20:32Speaker 06

  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.

• 20:55Speaker 03

  Yeah, so. I think the thing is with all the things that we had went through and especially. So, so the thing with her and the act, I like it got worse. She had, she always said. It got worse when she, I'll be honest, it really got bad when she got into the.

• 21:15Speaker 03

  When she kind of put in church and God on the back burner and started looking into like. Spiritual. More on that.

• 21:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, she got into the mindset of like, I'm a goddess and a goddess can have all 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.

• 21:39Speaker 03

  She referred to me and this was an in the house thing. She referred to me as her bottom, her bottom B word. I'll say that because I was the guy who was always at the house and, you know, took care of things or whatever. But when she wanted to go out and about, she felt like she had the freedom to do so. And I wasn't, I was never the one to be like, oh, I'm paying all the bills, you have to do this. Kind of like, okay, well, 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 wasn't.

• 22:14Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 22:15Speaker 03

  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.

• 22:25Speaker 03

  So, let, let me reference something that was brought up and the whole thing about the... People that, people didn't know, and I told everyone I would keep it, what she wanted to go with. I never cheated on her.

• 22:40Speaker 03

  Um, April, of course, with all this going on, I entertained a conversation with somebody online. Somebody I'd 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 of months. It was like a hundred dollars in the span of like twenty dollars for lunch or gas or whatever. And, you know, to me, I was like, well, she's doing this, then she's gonna know. Issue with me talking to somebody else and everything. And for her, her thing was, well, if you're making money, you're my, that's my money. It should be going to our household.

• 23:21Speaker 06

  Right.

• 23:21Speaker 03

  Which, that's how that, that, that happened. I don't know if you're, well, I know you remember, but when we lived in Atlanta and we came back and, and we're living at Nana's house.

• 23:32Speaker 06

  Yeah, no, I remember all that going down. And here's, and she told me that it was just an online thing with you, some kind of phone relationship or whatever. She did tell me that, she did tell me that it was a phone. Thing, uh, cause 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.

• 23:57Speaker 03

  Right.

• 23:57Speaker 06

  Urine, you know, so like.

• 24:00Speaker 03

  And that was my thing. I just, I never wanted to make her look mad 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.

• 24:16Speaker 06

  I know.

• 24:16Speaker 03

  Somebody's family or people who see her a certain way. I didn't want, I didn't wanna be the person that changed the way she looked to people. Cause she, because in her day, it's. He's not looking all the front. She is the great, she was a great person, like.

• 24:30Speaker 06

  I know.

• 24:31Speaker 03

  Outside of those things that she needed. But when I went to the boat.

• 24:40Speaker 03

  Me and her were not, we were not in a relationship. And at that time she had got with.

• 24:46Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 24:47Speaker 03

  But it was more than, it was Zach and there was another guy named Ross.

• 24:54Speaker 03

  So he lived, he lived in Clarksville, Zach was in Murphysboro, and then she had me. So she had her people for different stuff. Apparently Ross had bought her a house.

• 25:03Speaker 06

  What?

• 25:04Speaker 03

  Uh, y- yeah.

• 25:06Speaker 06

  Oh, my god.

• 25:07Speaker 03

  You know, I'm on the boat trying to have this relationship with my wife and my son, and I'm being told. Hey, this guy bought, that is the same guy that we bought the, we ended up buying the dogs from actually.

• 25:18Speaker 06

  Oh, my gosh.

• 25:20Speaker 03

  Yeah, so, you know, he's giving all these promises and doing all these things. And then she had Zach there with her and it was just.

• 25:28Speaker 06

  Did Zach know?

• 25:31Speaker 03

  No, Zach did not know about.

• 25:33Speaker 06

  Ross. I was, I was gonna say he, he wouldn't have probably.

• 25:37Speaker 01

  Kind of more temperamental, I would say like.

• 25:41Speaker 03

  Yeah, and then yeah, so.

• 25:45Speaker 01

  Mocha, come here, leave Marvin alone, sorry.

• 25:48Speaker 03

  No, you're right, so, so she had that going on, and it was just like I said, I'm on the boat, just kinda getting all this information and sitting with it all day, like, it was a lot on my mental, so.

• 26:00Speaker 03

  Hey, you know, of course, everybody knows April had her bit, you know, beautiful thing, but she was very big on like, if if I'm working, you gotta bring money into, and our issue with me being on the boat, it wasn't actually me being on the boat. It was, well, the first part was me being on the boat and Denzel having his issues at the house.

• 26:21Speaker 01

  Right.

• 26:21Speaker 03

  And she, you know, she was very big on like, yeah, Zach, you're over here, but you're not his father, like, there is no discipline in, like, there is no, like, that's his dad, duh.

• 26:31Speaker 01

  Right.

• 26:31Speaker 03

  But at the same time, it was video calls and phone calls between me and Denzel. For two months, three months at a time, because I'm trying to make the money for the house.

• 26:42Speaker 03

  So, coming, coming out of all that,

• 26:48Speaker 03

  you know, April, she had, she had cut, she had cut back off, but she still had, mind you, to talk about, she still had an aunt, she still had the dude that she was going to be with, and I know, I don't think Zach knew about that.

• 27:00Speaker 01

  He probably didn't.

• 27:02Speaker 03

  But, so she still had all that going on, and even that, so that's why, that's why I would say like, she had a lot of other stuff going on that people don't know about, like, because that, that by itself was messing with her mental, because she didn't really know what direction to go.

• 27:18Speaker 03

  And then on top of that, you're talking, you're taking relationship out of it, and then you have friends who all, because of who you are, is this last step, spiritual person, and great advice person, pulling on you, pulling on you, pulling on your knee and stuff.

• 27:33Speaker 03

  It was a lot being taken and I didn't have enough to fill what she needed by myself. I could give as much as I needed to, but the issue was coming off the boat. What happened with us was coming off the boat. I had a job set up. Yeah. Talking down. I knew April was not gonna take no shit. I could not come off that boat and not keep working. (laughing). 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 to have my money to be right. So, I talked to a restaurant owner that had promised me a thousand dollars a week. And this was, this was actually a family thing, you know. Promised me a thousand dollars a week. I'm like, are you depositing? Yes, I got you. When you come in, just come do your interview.

• 28:18Speaker 03

  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. And he ditched me basically. So, it was. So, with that, April was a period, uh... She never, she never, she never got in any fights in school, but she said she was, she was dangerous with her words. I am, I am too. I get it. I know. It's a problem. So, that was a big issue. That was a huge issue in our house. Now, she was saying what she wanted to say and I, I took it. No, I'm, I'm, I'm, I can take it. And, but it, it really got bad when I couldn't make any money.

• 28:59Speaker 03

  I was doing what I could to maintain what I could with my business, but being gone felt much, you know. 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, she had kicked me out and it was, it was fine, you know. I would walk two hours every day back to the apartment to wash the clothes, to cook the board, and then I'd have to be back out in the house. And that was about a three months period.

• 29:27Speaker 03

  And then I got back in the house and I got my job with the with the security company and things were kind of getting better and then she found out that, you know, she might be losing her business. And when I tell you she spiraled because she's been with that out to now getting a decent job where I can make a little bit of money. And I had offered her before she would have met with the before she would have been with the dude because the problem with that was they had had her and another guy had had a dinner before and I guess he had rubbed her a leg and she didn't like that. So she had cut that business off. But when she felt like she

• 30:10Speaker 03

  was gonna lose her business, I know she kind of freaked out and she ran back to that because she knew, I guess, with certain things she would get the money. Now, she told me it was Airbnb and they was gonna let her be her assistant for like five hundred dollars a week. And I was always I'm like, okay, if that's what you feel like you need to do. But I told her I had picked up another shift in my security job to cover what she was gonna be making.

• 30:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:37Speaker 03

  And she but she was very, I mean, she was a she was working towards being independent, which I got. So I was like, no, if that's what you feel like you need to do, go do that. And the thing with our divorce is we had come it was a master scales time and actually it was here talked about we had agreed upon it. That's the biggest thing. It was a message he preached that I hold to my heart to this day. And it was it was it was a series. It was me versus we and how you have to be you both have to be great me's in order to be a great we. And I knew I had financial stuff I needed to get together in order to be able to support her how she needed.

• 31:18Speaker 03

  She knew she had other so she needed to figure out if she was gonna be with anybody at all.

• 31:27Speaker 03

  And so, you know, it, we had, that was not, that wasn't an issue between us at that point. The first time we talked about divorce, it was, no, I didn't want divorce, I'm begging and pleading. This time, I understood it, and we knew we were gonna do our thing together with Denzel. I do feel like, maybe they had agreed to something, but I, I do feel like there was some type of, I don't know if you can call it rape, I mean, that's what she came and told me, and I mean, Denzel was there when it had, 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.

• 32:07Speaker 03

  And I do think that at some point, something happened where she wasn't aware of what was going on. Everything, you know, ontology was straightforward, as far as like, you know, she, she sat down, she, went to the doctor, she just wasn't herself, and when that day came, the,

• 32:30Speaker 03

  like a weird perk of, but it was, it felt good, because she was kind of looking back to herself from being, because after it happened, like, all like, I told, all she wanted to do was go back to work, that's all she could focus on, I, I gotta go to work, I gotta go to work. Like, you need to go to the hospital, no, I gotta go to work, I have to work. Yeah. And, um, so, I know she had talked to, I know she had talked to Zach, I know she had talked to, uh, the aunt, the aunt guy. And, so, the day, the day that everything went down, you know, like I said, I went to, I went to go, DoorDash. She was like, where you at? Came home, she wanted some alcohol, got her some alcohol.

• 33:12Speaker 03

  She drank way more than she usually, I don't know how there's not alcohol on her thing, but she drank a whole bottle, one point seven five liters of D-Pen. She downed it that day, I fed her. And, so,

• 33:27Speaker 03

  we were get, we were getting, we were getting ready for, Jamie, did you promise you're just listening? I promise.

• 33:35Speaker 03

  I promise. We were getting ready. We were getting, we were getting ready for the football game and I, I put her towel in the bathroom and the do, the door to the room was shut. Cause she was naked and getting her, she was, she got her dress on, getting her clothes out of the drawer. And I put her towel in the bathroom, started her shower like I always do. And she was like, I'm not gonna use the word she used, but she was like, no, she was like, have sex with. Like, no, because in my mind, you just went through this situation, she's like, no, have sex with you and my husband. I said, all right. So, we have sex on the floor.

• 34:15Speaker 03

  In that process, she's like, okay, just being honest, it wasn't unusual for April to want to be choked near a sex. It was one of her things. Um, and she, she was, so, you know, that's, we were doing that.

• 34:33Speaker 03

  And she was like, harder. And I'm like, no. And she, she punched me like, it was like in my chest, she was like, harder.

• 34:41Speaker 03

  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, I'm telling you now, I panicked. I took her to the shower, I'm like, I put her in the water, I'm like, wake up.

• 34:59Speaker 03

  She didn't wake up.

• 35:03Speaker 03

  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, I put the bag on her head and wrapped it, and wrapped it up to make it look like she did it to herself. I'm so glad you're telling me the truth. That's not who I was. That's not something I did with her. That wasn't my, that's something she did elsewhere and I'm trying to satisfy her needs.

• 35:30Speaker 06

  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 Brown, from Murder in America and The Paranormal Files. On The Conspiracy Files, we explore everything

• 36:11Speaker 06

  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.

• 36:56Speaker 06

  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.

• 37:20Speaker 01

  They told me that it was gonna 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.

• 38:01Courtney Brown?

  No.

• 38:01Speaker 01

  So they're like, well, you chose this. I was like, no, I didn't choose it. I didn't have a choice.

• 38:06Courtney Brown?

  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.

• 38:13Speaker 01

  Yeah. And I asked them, 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?

• 38:26Courtney Brown?

  No.

• 38:27Speaker 01

  I'm just so confused by it all.

• 38:30Speaker 06

  The whole thing is insane.

• 38:31Speaker 01

  It is insane.

• 38:33Courtney Brown?

  Uh, and we, 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. Uh, I was so.

• 38:53Speaker 01

  I think it's their way of like, not having to admit that they were wrong all the way. Cause 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. 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.

• 39:26Speaker 06

  None of it makes sense. I, I can't.

• 39:28Speaker 01

  No.

• 39:29Speaker 06

  Can't understand why they have such a hard time seeing the truth, especially like.

• 39:37Speaker 01

  When it's all there.

• 39:38Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 39:39Speaker 03

  It's right in front of them. It's right, it's right in front of them.

• 39:42Speaker 06

  Like the way that you guys 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.

• 39:59Speaker 01

  No.

• 39:59Speaker 06

  At all whatsoever.

• 40:01Speaker 01

  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.

• 40:24Courtney Brown?

  I, that's, I was.

• 40:25Speaker 01

  Than a murderer.

• 40:27Courtney Brown?

  Yes. People get like drugged, like weed charges.

• 40:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, pot. You're gonna pot and you get more.

• 40:32Courtney Brown?

  Yes. It is insane. It's insane. Not believe it. So, so he will be spending two years in prison.

• 40:42Speaker 01

  Well, he only has eighteen more months.

• 40:44Courtney Brown?

  Oh, yeah, cuz it's with time served, right? So eighteen months and then he's gonna be moving to, I had never even heard of what that other.

• 40:54Speaker 01

  Community corrections, I think, is that what it's called, community corrections? I think that's the name.

• 40:59Courtney Brown?

  Yes.

• 40:59Speaker 01

  Um, 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 gonna be protected from society cuz now his face is about everywhere. To live in the life cuz 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 eighteen months.

• 41:22Courtney Brown?

  That's crazy.

• 41:24Speaker 01

  So he's not actually having to like go to like one of those really hard places.

• 41:28Courtney Brown?

  Right.

• 41:29Speaker 01

  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, um, 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.

• 41:48Courtney Brown?

  What?

• 41:50Speaker 01

  He used to play video games? Yes, they play, he was playing video, yep, video games. They're allowed to accept their, they have internet so they can reach the outside world.

• 42:00Courtney Brown?

  That is insane. That is, there's no possible way that he could ever get custody of Denzel with the sentence he's under. Okay.

• 42:12Speaker 01

  Only because DCS, we had it added to our side. This, so the sheriff's department, like his criminal case has, they wanted to help us at all with custody. So we had to have that added on our custody hearing and it, we had a portion added.

• 42:28Courtney Brown?

  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 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 gotten back? Oh, I know. And with how things have gone, he probably could have. Probably would have.

• 42:50Speaker 06

  Something that I love in life are flavors that are salty and sweet. I mean, there's nothing better than a dark chocolate bar with sea salt on top. I mean, it's just, it's one of those things that I absolutely love in life that I will eat if I see it in front of me. And salt can enhance the flavor of so many different dishes, but especially desserts. That's why when Courtney and I tried Kachava's new salted caramel flavor, we were blown away. It actually tasted like salted caramel, which was crazy to me, and it was so delicious. Kachava's new salted caramel is the perfect balance of mouthwatering flavor and benefits. One serving provides all the nutrition your body craves in one deliciously simple shake, and just two scoops provide complete nutrition your body craves with protein, fiber, greens, and so much more. When the day demands your salty side, fill it with plant-based protein that actually tastes delicious.

• 43:35Speaker 06

  Kachava provides clean nutrition. There are no fillers, no nonsense, just like when you're feeling a little salty. There are also no artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners. Kachava is non-GMO, no soy, no animal products, no gluten, and no preservatives. And there are so many different flavors to choose from, including chocolate, vanilla, chai, matcha, strawberry, coffee, cinnamon, French toast, and of course, salted caramel. Courtney and I have tried Kachava shakes. We love them. And even the packaging is really cool. That's something that I love about how the shakes are packaged and sent to you. I mean, you have to just hold it in your hand to see what I'm talking about. But yeah, we love them. Our pantry is stocked with Kachava products now. So why don't you embrace your salty side? Go to kachava.com and use code MIA for 15% off your first order. That's Kachava, K-A-C-H-A-V-A dot com, code MIA.

• 44:19Speaker 02

  The real cost of a break-in isn't your valuables, it's the feeling that your home stopped being safe. SimpliSafe keeps danger away from your family with three layers of protection. One, smart AI cameras and live US-based agents help stop intruders before they break in. Two, we sound the alarm at points of entry. Three, our agents request emergency response. Plans starting around a dollar a day. Right now, get 70% off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com/spotify.

• 44:44Speaker 04

  Outdoor deterrence plans start at $49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com/licenses for alarm license information.

• 44:50Speaker 00

  Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. The message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird. Okay, one judgment. Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com/switch.

• 45:11Speaker 01

  Upfront payment of $45 for three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com.

• 45:20Speaker 06

  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.

• 45:32Speaker 03

  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? So you can just say and do whatever you feel like.

• 45:58Courtney Brown?

  And they're protected.

• 45:59Speaker 03

  Pretty much. Pretty much.

• 46:01Courtney Brown?

  Yeah, that's something that Colin really wants to talk about, too. Like in his, the documentary that he's gonna be working on soon. He, like, the way that the whole entire case was handled from beginning to end.

• 46:16Speaker 06

  I hate corruption.

• 46:17Courtney Brown?

  Yeah.

• 46:17Speaker 06

  More than anything. Especially from these people that are supposed to protect it.

• 46:22Courtney Brown?

  Yeah.

• 46:23Speaker 06

  And they just themselves. It's just. Yeah, yeah. If they're protecting, sir, who are they protecting?

• 46:29Courtney Brown?

  Yeah.

• 46:29Speaker 06

  It really makes me wonder why. Like, why?

• 46:34Speaker 03

  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

• 46:52Speaker 06

  Outcome.

• 46:53Speaker 03

  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.

• 47:11Courtney Brown?

  Very beginning. Yeah.

• 47:12Speaker 03

  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 him 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 him out. It doesn't bother me. They didn't do anything for me.

• 47:33Courtney Brown?

  No, exactly. Also, you wouldn't even let anyone see that video because you were trying to protect the outcome of this case.

• 47:43Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 47:43Courtney Brown?

  Like when we covered the story months ago, like I was like, can I hear Donovan in that face? I can't, which totally.

• 47:51Speaker 03

  And I've never released it up until now. That's why I told you, I was like, if I'm gonna release it, then I want you guys to have it. And I think he doesn't start to confess until like twenty something minutes in. So first you have to listen to him go on and on about nothingness.

• 48:03Courtney Brown?

  Right. Trying to cut, trying to talk. All nice and.

• 48:07Speaker 03

  Yeah, beat around it. Yeah. 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 have to sit here calmly 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 of minutes for something that it took them weeks to do. Yeah, at the first time, it took him literally a couple of 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 then 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.

• 48:52Speaker 03

  Till he was arrested, he just, he turned it into his phone.

• 48:55Speaker 06

  I just don't even get how he can't be charged and like given a, a longer sentence just based on the lying to police.

• 49:05Speaker 03

  Yes. Yeah, yeah, that part right there. Tampering, just tampering with the body and everything. Yeah, I guess 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.

• 49:26Speaker 03

  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.

• 49:40Courtney Brown?

  Af- after he lied about it to your faces for months.

• 49:44Speaker 03

  Twice, twice, two interviews. Yeah. Two interviews, he lied about it and said that, no, he didn't do it. No, 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.

• 50:23Courtney Brown?

  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

• 50:32Speaker 03

  Yeah. It's your fault. He told him it was his fault. We have to move. Yeah.

• 50:38Courtney Brown?

  Saying, and then the police are like, that's not

• 50:40Speaker 03

  Yeah. Never. Not our problem.

• 50:43Courtney Brown?

  Oh my God.

• 50:44Speaker 03

  They didn't care at all. They're like custody is, is something completely different. I'm like, craziness.

• 50:51Courtney Brown?

  Oh gosh, well, that's, again, I'm, Colin, he gets way more views on his stuff than the podcast even does.

• 51:00Speaker 03

  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 yeah. He likes you guys because otherwise he'd be downstairs playing his video game right now.

• 51:27Courtney Brown?

  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 word, you know, I think that, oh, sorry. I think that, um, yeah, I just, Colin has so many people on hi- 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.

• 52:00Speaker 03

  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 because 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 over 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, 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 then we, it's like the fourth biggest county.

• 52:44Speaker 03

  And they don't have one. And where April's body was sent, sixty-six 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. Um, and they're hoping to use it for training nationwide. So.

• 53:04Courtney Brown?

  Good.

• 53:05Speaker 03

  I'm hoping. So that's actually a positive.

• 53:07Courtney Brown?

  That's such great news, especially because I, 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.

• 53:22Speaker 03

  It's because the detective went in there and put it in their head ahead of time.

• 53:26Courtney Brown?

  Exactly.

• 53:26Speaker 03

  And then with all the false things with 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

• 54:04Speaker 03

  evaluation only first.

• 54:05Courtney Brown?

  Yes.

• 54:06Speaker 03

  And then put all the pieces, but don't add their opinion to your report.

• 54:11Courtney Brown?

  No. And I can't believe that's not protocol already. Like that's

• 54:15Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's not.

• 54:16Courtney Brown?

  Crazy. I

• 54:17Speaker 03

  Yeah. 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 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.

• 54:39Speaker 06

  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.

• 54:53Courtney Brown?

  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?

• 55:01Speaker 03

  I could have, and they actually said they would read it for me, but I told them, no, I told them they can't, they can't read my words. So I just posted it publicly.

• 55:11Speaker 06

  Here's the video that Jamie posted of her victim impact statement.

• 55:15Speaker 01

  July 29, 2023 was a day I will never forget. A piece of my soul was taken from this earth. From her children.

• 55:26Speaker 01

  From her family and friends. And from her future plans.

• 55:31Speaker 01

  I didn't get to look in April's eyes that day to see her pain. I didn't get to rescue her.

• 55:37Speaker 01

  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?

• 55:52Speaker 01

  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.

• 56:03Speaker 01

  The man she loved in the hands that she held feeling comforted in the end were the same hands that wrapped around her neck, taking her life away.

• 56:15Speaker 01

  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.

• 56:29Speaker 01

  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

• 57:12Speaker 01

  and tape the bag if their partner who they claimed to love was not breathing.

• 57:17Speaker 01

  In a sexual act, a partner would make all attempts to rescue their spouse. The lies began the second the nine-one-one call was made and the procedures that followed were nothing short of irrational. April was born into this world as a gift from God to me, her mother.

• 57:36Speaker 01

  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.

• 58:03Speaker 01

  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.

• 58:25Speaker 01

  All of that was taken from her and from us.

• 58:30Speaker 01

  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.

• 59:14Speaker 01

  There will always be an empty chair

• 59:18Speaker 01

  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.

• 1:00:00Speaker 01

  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, um, a grief center opened, which now we don't, but we have grieved 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.

• 1:00:44Speaker 01

  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.

• 1:01:27Speaker 01

  So note, so that no family has to endure grieving while investigating their own child's case because the system failed them. And refuse 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.

• 1:01:56Speaker 06

  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.

• 1:02:26Speaker 03

  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, so.

• 1:02:41Courtney Brown?

  Right.

• 1:02:43Speaker 03

  And 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.

• 1:02:52Courtney Brown?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:52Speaker 03

  Yet, I think it's gonna take till he's older and I think it's gonna be waves of like. Oh my gosh, my dad actually sent me in there. I don't think he gets it right now.

• 1:03:01Courtney Brown?

  I mean, yeah, so hard to grow.

• 1:03:04Speaker 03

  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. Um, and Denzel's like, well, I'm happy. Cause 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. Right. And then Serenity is like, well, you know, she's pissed. Like, she's like total opposite. She's, she's my feisty little fireball. She's like, oh no, this is unacceptable. Um, 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.

• 1:03:48Speaker 03

  Daddy should not get to be out in this world, just walking around. And so. I did kind of like, I told them 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 okay with this. But I said, I told everybody, don't talk about it around the kids. And if they do, the kids can walk into 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.

• 1:04:23Courtney Brown?

  What about, so the grief center, that's, that was, it didn't end up working out?

• 1:04:28Speaker 03

  And you know. It was just costing us more and more money. We. We didn't get the help in the community like we thought we were gonna 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, um, 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,

• 1:05:12Speaker 03

  um, let's be happy. And we've, we've already sent, 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.

• 1:05:24Courtney Brown?

  Right.

• 1:05:25Speaker 03

  Um, 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, I mean, it's, 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 three thousand 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's 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, eight hundred and fifty kids in a day lose a parent in the United States. And so,

• 1:06:09Speaker 03

  that's a need. And I don't want any kid to feel like they don't.

• 1:06:12Courtney Brown?

  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. Yeah, we're doing it. We're doing the whole United States. That's beautiful. I think that is so good. And I, and you know, a door closing like that is just, it means that another one's gonna 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

• 1:06:52Courtney Brown?

  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.

• 1:07:32Speaker 06

  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.

• 1:07:56Speaker 06

  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 the 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

• 1:08:40Speaker 06

  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 you all on the next one.

• 1:09:35Speaker 02

  Traditional home security only alerts you after a break-in, and that's too late. SimpliSafe is changing that.

• 1:09:41Speaker 04

  Stop. This is SimpliSafe. Police are on the way.

• 1:09:44Speaker 02

  We don't just alert, we help stop crime before it starts. Plans starting around a dollar a day. Right now, get 70% off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com/spotify. SimpliSafe, ahead of crime in real time.

• 1:09:59Speaker 04

  Outdoor deterrence plans start at $49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com/licenses for alarm license information.

• 1:10:05Speaker 00

  Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com/switch.

• 1:10:24Speaker 01

  Upfront payment of $45 for three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com.

• 1:10:37Speaker 05

  You want a vision. I was an Avenger, but I'm not a hero anymore.

• 1:10:43Speaker 05

  The Vision returns for the final chapter of the groundbreaking trilogy. That family wasn't real. You sure about that? I had a father called Vision. How is this possible? Don't miss the two-episode premiere of Marvel Television's Vision Quest. Nothing bonds a family together quite like Mortal Jeopardy. Now streaming on Disney+.