CARROLLTON — Holly Elkins was sentenced to two life terms in federal prison on August 15, 2024, for her role in the 2020 murder of Alyssa Burkett in Carrollton, Texas. A federal jury found Elkins guilty on all counts on April 17, 2024, after a six-day trial in Dallas.
On the morning of October 2, 2020, Burkett was shot through the driver’s side window of her car while parked outside the Greentree Apartments leasing office. After being shot, she exited her vehicle and left a bloody handprint on the leasing office window while seeking help, according to Carrollton Police Sgt. Michael Harding. The assailant then chased her, stabbing and slashing her 44 times before fleeing in a black Ford Expedition.
Andrew Beard, the father of Burkett’s 1-year-old daughter Willow, turned himself in to police on October 5, 2020, and was initially charged with murder. Investigators discovered that Beard had purchased the black Ford Expedition used in the attack and that it was found abandoned less than a mile from his home. Inside the vehicle, police recovered a fake beard smeared with dark brown makeup. On October 3, 2020, a search of Beard’s white Ford F-150 yielded a backpack containing bottles of dark brown makeup and men’s hiking boots cut up and soaking in bleach.
Beard pleaded guilty in June 2022 to cyberstalking and using a dangerous weapon resulting in death. In July 2022, he told the FBI that Elkins had orchestrated the killing. “It was ‘this is how you’re gonna do this,’ it was, ‘you’re gonna wear this dark makeup…’ That was her plan. That’s how it’s gonna be done,” Beard said.
Elkins was indicted on charges of conspiracy to stalk, stalking using a dangerous weapon resulting in death, and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. Evidence presented at trial included internet searches by Elkins about avoiding court testimony due to mental health issues and a Walgreens receipt linking her to the crime. A week before the murder, she sent Beard a text message in which she wrote, “I hope you handle it I’m not coming home to” followed by a profane phrase.
Elkins was arrested on July 6, 2023, at Miami International Airport after returning from the Dominican Republic. During a police interview on October 6, 2020, she described herself as a “stage 5 clinger girlfriend” and claimed Beard was home with her on the morning of the murder.