NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A man has been sentenced to serve two years behind bars after being convicted of murdering his wife inside their Antioch home in 2023, officials said.
Donovan Holt pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, tampering with evidence and false reporting in November 2024, which is more than a year after his wife April Holt, 29, was found unresponsive in the bathroom of their Cane Ridge Parkway home with a plastic bag taped around her neck.
On Tuesday, Feb. 18, Donovan was sentenced to serve two years and one month behind bars. A judge said after the two-year sentence, Donovan will then serve eight years in community corrections.
News 2 previously spoke with April’s mother, Jamie Dickerson, who advocated for justice for her daughter after officials initially listed her death as a suicide.
However, Dickerson said it was a FaceTime call that led to Donovan confessing to the murder, which is a conversation that she allegedly recorded.
“He just goes into how he killed her and he described how he killed her,” Dickerson told News 2 in September 2024. “How he strangled her and that he didn’t know what to do.”
Dickerson said she brought the recorded confession to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD). On Sep. 19, 2024, the police department announced that Donovan was arrested in San Antonio, Texas after he confessed to detectives that he was responsible for strangling his wife.
During Tuesday’s sentencing, officials said the victim’s family was in agreement with the sentence.
