NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Middle Tennessee mother successfully helped pass a new law to ensure families have a voice in death investigations after her daughter’s death was wrongly ruled a suicide.
Jamie Dickerson said her daughter, April Holt, lit up every room and chased big dreams with a big heart.
"April was the sunshine of the world," Dickerson said.
"She brought into my life at a time where...I didn't know I needed her so much, and she was everything to me," Dickerson said.
In July 2023, April was found dead in her Antioch apartment with a plastic bag taped around her neck. Police called it a suicide despite April filing for divorce and bruising on her body.
Dickerson knew instantly that something was wrong.
"I was gonna dig, and I'm that mom that was like — this is not going to be something that I could live with," she said.
Dickerson begged investigators to reopen the case, but Tennessee law allowed only a spouse to challenge the ruling as the next of kin. As April’s mother, Dickerson had no standing.
"You're already grieving, the last thing you should have to do is try to fight just to have paperwork just to have a reconsideration of something that you've already seen all the red flags to," Dickerson said.
Dickerson became her own investigator. Evidence showed only the husband’s DNA on the bag and tape.
"I knew that the only way I was going to get what I needed was to get a confession… Which means that I had to put myself in the place of befriending the murderer of my child," Dickerson said.
For 10 months, Dickerson pressed until April’s husband, Donovon Holt, confessed to her. He is now serving a two-year sentence in jail for reckless homicide and is set to be released in a couple of months.
Dickerson said no parent should have to fight this way for the truth.
"I decided I'm going to have to go after this law and try to make sure that other parents don't have to experience the trauma that even put me through."
That fight became law. Senate Bill 1597, signed by the governor, now recognizes parents as next of kin. The law gives parents the right to request reviews, access records, and challenge suicide rulings.
"Even though we only got two years, I would do it a thousand times over because her death certificate does not say suicide… her children are never going to think mom deliberately left us and didn’t want to be here anymore," said Dickerson.
For Dickerson, the fight is about truth and protecting April’s memory.
"I can't bring back April, but her legacy lives on through all of the changes that are going to be made because domestic violence is happening every single day," Dickerson said.
The new law is now in effect, giving parents across Tennessee a clearer path to seek answers when they believe something has been missed. Dickerson said while this law is a major step forward, she is already pushing for stronger standards for how suspicious deaths are investigated in domestic violence cases.
This story was reported on-air by journalist Kelsey Gibbs and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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