On the morning of February 10th deputies with the Lubbock Sheriff’s Office made a gruesome discovery at a home just south of Idalou.
They found Holli Jeffcoat,18, a special needs senior at Lorenzo I.S.D. dead. They reported she had been stabbed multiple times and her body burned.
“The only thing that I will elaborate on,” Lieutenant Bryan Taylor said on the day of Holli’s death. “It appeared that whoever is responsible for this, attempted to conceal the crime with fire.”
Later reports would show Holli was 12 weeks pregnant. Court documents show Holli told one of her teacher’s she was being sexually abused and was pregnant. Additional documents state Holli told her mother what was going on.
A few weeks after Holli’s death, extended family members filed a protective order on behalf of Holli’s 15-year-old sister. They said they believed the girl could also have been assaulted by the person abusing Holli.
On March 3rd, the Lubbock County Medical Examiner completed his report and ruled Holli’s death a homicide. He said the cause of death was sharp force.
A week later James Holland, Holli’s stepfather, was arrested on aggravated sexual assault charges for abusing on of Holli’s family members. The family member said the abuse started when she was only nine years old and continued for several years.
“The Holli Jeffcoat homicide and the allegations of sexual abuse are an independent investigation, totally separate from this one” Lt. Taylor said back in March. “This one came to light as a result of that investigation and we were able to go down that avenue and make an arrest.”
It was at this time the sheriff’s department named Holland a suspect in their murder investigation, but no charges were filed at that time.
Six weeks after, Debi Holland, Holli’s mom, was also arrested for aggravated sexual assault charges. Investigators said she was charged because she knew her daughter was continually abused by James Holland.
Days later on May 2nd gruesome details were discovered inside the warrant for Debi Holland’s arrest. The documents show Holli’s womb and uterus had been removed at her death. It also showed Debi Holland had been helping her husband cover up his crimes.
Later that month a Lubbock County judge issued a news media gag order on the case. Investigators and prosecutors refused to elaborate anymore on the case since the gag order.
Public documents show on July 1st a Lubbock grand jury indicted James and Debi Holland on capital murder charges as well as charges of continuous sexual abuse of a child.
