It Was A 'Perfect Life' Online Until She Was Found Dead: The Twisted Case of April Holt | True Crime

by the summer of 2023 mother of two and positivity coach April Holt had a following of over 200,000 on Tik Tok April built her quirky and optimistic online image around her happy home life her post told the story of overcoming adversity and manifesting great things but yeah keep growing y'all keep manifesting and have a great H in Late July April girl was found unresponsive in the bathroom of her home she would die days later while law enforcement was content to categorize the case as a tragedy of April's own choosing the 29-year-old's mother knew better this

is the story of a mother's unflinching fight for [Music] justice hi there I'm Kevin and welcome to just thought Lounge today's case takes us to the outskirts of Nashville tenness where a young mother entrepreneur and influencer met a questionable end let's take a [Music] look April Holt celebrated her 29th birthday in early July 2023 the young entrepreneur from Antioch had already accomplished quite a bit in life an independent lash technician April had left her job and launched out on her own building her own business and being her own boss happy 29th birthday to me I

am blessed to experience another year of life I have lived through 10,585 days as April reflected on her greatest achievements she was most grateful for family particularly her two children 11y old Serenity and her seven-year-old son Denzel April was an Engaged loving mother she shared the best of her family life with the world through her Tik Tok account she focused on positivity videos presenting a spiritual life and coaching her over 200,000 followers on the value of manifesting the life you want her videos were at times motivating I just pray and send good energy to anybody

who's saying this I hope you have an amazing day on purpose be intentional and grow just a little bit progress over Perfection sometimes they were [Music] goofy give [Music] my over the years a few of April's posts also became deeply honest and revealing April's homeschooling as a child was a particularly sore Point she posted about what she described as her isolation from society this was an experience she learned from and overcame in her teenage years April and her husband 33-year-old Donovan Holt lived the ups and downs of their marriage online they shared their origin story

friends that became best friends that became lovers and eventually husband and wife and parents to daughter Serenity whom April had when she was a teen and their son Denzel oh no that's a question answer right now yeah being best friend that came first if if we Wen friends you're so out of bre am I bro but honestly if we weren't friends first it wasn't the last like that's been the the base of the whole relationship Foundation was that we were friends and so even through the we can joke around and maintain that friendship I mean

it's what kept us through our separation honestly so yeah being friends is important he really is like my bestest friend ever the bestest the best friend I could ever ask for and I married him there were rough patches including the period of Separation that Donovan mentions the couple had also faced financial hardship belts of depression and serious health issues always positive April framed their story as a journey of the pair overcoming adversity the story that she told always ended with love and success not all of us are comfortable with sharing our personal struggles online for

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if you would like to be rewarded for improving your credit managing your finances responsibly and protecting your privacy check out the link in this video's description or scan the QR code on screen to get a free trial Ed your smart credit moves into gift cards that you can use right away on the morning of Friday July 28th April spoke with her mother jimie on the phone briefly they had plans to see the Barbie movie but she couldn't make it that afternoon they agreed to meet at their Church the following day it was just a few

hours later that amam received a phone call one that she would never forget Donovan was on the other end April had been rushed to the hospital he said their young son had found her in the bathroom she was in the shower a plastic bag taped over her head April wasn't breathing we were going to go see the Barbie movie she said Donovan has to work I can't go to the movie but I'll meet you at church in blast this is the blast classroom tomorrow the phone and it was Donovan and he said um he was

upset kind of like in a panic upset he's like I we found April she wasn't breathing and so she's in the ambulance on the way to the hospital at the hospital Jamie recalled Donovan continued to act strangely he was not expressing the kind of distress and confusion one would expect from a distraught husband she thought he allowed her to make all of the medical decisions regarding April's treatment as they fought to save her jimie recalled that Donovan held his head in his hands and he rocked back and forth after 3 days of further emotional Agony

On July 31st April had still not regained Consciousness she was declared dead from her injuries in November the autopsy report was released the results were not what Jamie had expected the medical examiner concluded that the cause of death was Suffocation the conclusion reached by the Metro Nashville Police was that there had been no foul play Let's talk about how I'm going to fake it till I make it while I put on lash extensions because I had a mental breakdown the other night and I plucked all of my lashes off um I think I can add

a video maybe not if not then I'm just pointing for no reason but yeah let's get into it so lately I have been going through just a lot and I can definitely say that I'm in like a depressed State like I'm just overwhelmed and I know that like I'm manifesting more negative experiences on myself with how I've been so I have to get out of this funk so I'm going to literally fake it till I make it and I've done this before this isn't this isn't the first time investigators informed Jamie Dickerson that her daughter's

case would be closed there was nothing further to investigate Jam rejected the decision outright she told investigators that she would continue and walked out on them after they closed April's case da and everybody agreed to close it I got up marched out of that room and I said I'm not done I'm going to keep investigating jaim knew her daughter well she knew that both faith and resilience were qualities that April had in abundance Jaimie also believed that there was no way that April would have chosen to leave her children someone had taken her life and

jimie believed that she knew exactly who that person was 2 weeks prior to her death April had filed for divorce this was not the first time the marriage had been a rocky one indeed the couple had originally sought a divorce years earlier leading to a 3-year separation okay so the story is that we are getting divorced because go our decision it's my best friend I still love her to death like we still got a child together we still going to be hanging out probably see most days of the week but at the end of the

day we got to do that's it you feel me she has a path to go I got a path to go but I pass a parallel and we always going to be next to each other yeah and who's to say what's going to happen in the future all that we know is right now right now it's the best I mean real talk it's the best decision for both of us for her to do what she needs to do for me to do what I need to do so we can grow and heal and it elevate

no heart feelings this is not a messy divorce or anything like that don't do that this is like I said like he said this is my best friend at the end of the day he has been before the relationship before the marriage before the kids so nothing's going to change that so like look at her bro like I would never lose this forever for real so we're good y'all we're for real like for real for real promise y'all April and Donovan separated but never formally cut ties they continued to present a happy front to their

followers and perhaps some of this was genuine or perhaps they were in a deeply unhealthy cycle because after an extended separation the two decided to rekindle their romance and give it another go in their videos they prided themselves on their ability to forgive to embrace open lines of communication and to grow as individuals while together [Music] the darkest moments of their relationship seemed never to reach April's Tik Tok account but the arguments must have escalated unlike previous occasions when she sought to separate in July 2023 April was not backing down she told her mother that

she was holding firm and leaving Donovan for good Donovan must have been just as certain Jamie learned later that he had pawned his wedding ring just a week before April died is it me am I the drama I don't think I'm the drama maybe I am am I the villain I don't think I'm the villain on July 28th the day that April was found unconscious in her shower she and Donovan had been having an argument the details of their disagreement remain unclear that morning Denzel heard his parents fighting but he could not distinguish the words

that were being exchanged he later recounted to his grandmother what he recalled from that horrible day on July 28th she woke up drank her coffee Journal as usual enjoying her peaceful morning hugged and kissed her seven-year-old son Denzel and her and her husband then went into the bathroom and began to argue and fight my seven-year-old grandson put his ear to the door and heard his parents fighting and he looked underneath to see both of their feet he then listened some more but he couldn't understand what they were saying and so he then ran to his

room his dad shortly after came into his room room and he got him dressed and he fed him and he then had him go check on his mom he asked him to go check on his mom 911 was then called we got to the hospital and she had no brain function and no blood flow to her brain we did not find out about the bag which was not disclosed to us for over 6 hours in that time her husband had went back to the apartment two times not knowing what was not I don't know what

he was doing going there on July 31st of 2023 my daughter was pronounced dead and I want Justice What followed was a fight that Jamie would need to wage to apply public pressure to get the attention of the Nashville police as well as the DA's office she began with seeking exposure Jamie sought out local news stations she reached out to area celebrities and she posted about the case regularly on her social media it was an uphill battle after the investigation had been officially closed it became difficult if not impossible to gain any traction in the

media coverage of April's case on the mainstream outlets at that time completely ceased so guys I wanted to let you guys know something which I don't understand if I'm doing something wrong or how I reach out but there has not been one news channel channel in the local Nashville area that has picked up April Holtz story my daughter um not one from day one and it's been 14 months and I've reached out to Channel 2 Channel 4 channel 7 Channel 5 Channel any channel out there including I've reached out to S many of the celebrities

that are out here not one will even respond or take anything on um including I've Jamie did not only campaign online she requested the full case File and began researching by lodging a formal complaint with the community Review Board in Nashville Jam forced a full review of the handling of April's case eventually the Metro Nashville Police Department launched a second investigation 4 months later they returned with a 47-page report the reinvestigation did not prompt a change in the categorization of the case or the nature of April's death however what it did provide was a wealth

of detail for Jamie to scrutinize she combed through the report and related documentation over many hours the days turned into weeks and months while jimie worked through what was available and tried to make sense of the evidence she had to work with meanwhile The Grieving mother also aimed to provide a stable and supportive home life for her grandchildren she posted about taking Serenity and Denzel to grief counseling she shared how their nightmares kept her and her husband up at all hours jimie also spoke openly about her own grief even publishing a book about her bement

process entitled grieving through Grace and the proceeds that come from this book will also be um publishing a children's book called gve with me and that will be the next one that will be in the series and then um grieving through Grace the next chapter is the one that will follow this book she also became an advocate against domestic violence many of her insights highlighted the complex Dynamic at work in many relationships abuse does not always look the same or the way we expect it to during this period there was also the struggle to keep

the children together in the months following his wife's death Donovan Holt relocated to Texas not surprisingly he wished for his son to join him therey didn't come with on that to go drop him off of his dad she said she just couldn't do it uh who he was crying who he didn't want to go he was he was crying and saying he just he said gra me I'll do anything I can to try to stay with you I don't influence him in any way with his emotion he's often told that I do and I on

that other side but I I would never do that I want him to have an opinion of his own and I want him to be happy no matter no matter where that is whether that I just want him to be happy and have a fulfilling childhood and so and I want him to be with his sister Jaime's relationship with her former son-in-law was growing tense in April of 20124 jaim ceased her posts detailing her concerns over April's case announcing that she had been placed under a gag order while her online advocacy took a necessary pause

Jaime's dedication to seeking just jce for April nonetheless moved forward with full force initially investigators had claimed that April showed no signs of trauma stemming from the incident that had caused her death according to jimie there were visible signs on April at the hospital that suggested this was not true April had noticeable bruises the autopsy recorded marks on her neck her thighs and her ankles she even had a gash on her her inner thigh the most significant piece of evidence in this report which was overlooked by the initial investigation could not be ignored there was

only one set of fingerprints on the bag taped to April's head and there was only one set of fingerprints on that duct tape those fingerprints were not aprils they were a match to Donovan Holt in September Jamie confronted her former son-in-law directly with the information that she had un covered during this conversation Donovan confessed and I said you can tell me the truth or I'm going to go meet with the Cold Case team next Thursday and have this reopened I'm not shocked I don't have that emotion because I've been literally doing this for a year

knowing what happened I already knew Jamie went to the police with the confession which she had recorded in light of this development April's autopsy was reviewed and its conclusion finally changed the manner of death was formly recategorized to a homicide on September 20th 2024 the mnpd announced that Donovan Holt had been arrested in San Antonio after he confessed to killing his wife directly to detectives Donovan was indicted by a grand jury for wless homicide evidence tampering and false reporting I also want to update you that there has been an arrest uh the detective called me

and did tell me that Donovan Holtz has been arrested in the state of Texas for the homicide of April Hol he is being transported back to Tennessee and so um that is the update for now we do have him in handcuffs and he is being transported back so uh now we're just waiting for the next step Donovan was transported from Texas to Tennessee and held on a $75,000 Bond pending an arraignment hearing scheduled for October 23rd after speaking with the Nashville CT case unit any ambiguity that remained in the case was resolved the 33-year-old told

police the same version of events that he had conceited to his former mother-in-law he had angrily strangled his wife in the heat of an argument to conceal the crime he had dragged her into the shower positioned the bag over her head and taped it in place then he left her to make lunch for their son only after Denzel had eaten he asked him to check on his mother and proceeded to call the ambulance April's children are with their grandmother who has reported that they are doing as well as one could expect under the circumstances some

days are better than others Jamie has thanked her supporters on social media for supporting her and the family through this horrific ordeal her fight it seems is not quite over Jamie is currently campaigning to have the murder charge against Donovan increased from Reckless homicide to first-degree murder I am trying to get the charges increased there's no reason that they are as low as they are there's no reason that they shouldn't be first degree instead of Reckless homicide there should also be child endangerment um added to these charges and so that is my that's my next

um uphill battle that I'm trying to fight I should have a new DA which will be my third one now uh sometime next week that will be assigned to this case and so I will just be on them and making sure that I can do everything that I can to get these charges increased um as far as that was the tragic story of April ly Holt thank you once again for joining me and a special thanks to Alicia Rockin and na man for joining the members Lounge I'm Kevin this is just thought lounge and I'll

see you in the next one when the scene plays tell me who the scream saves I can hear the cries repeat got to take my time these crimes get deep but these stories can't hide let me find