Daryl Keith Holton was born on November 23, 1961, and later served in the Gulf War before settling into civilian life. He married Crystal Holton in 1984, and they had three sons. During his military absences, his wife frequently left the children unattended. Holton left the military in 1992 to take custody of their sons after their divorce.

In late 1992, Crystal became pregnant by another man but continued living with Holton. Their volatile relationship led to another separation after Holton allegedly struck her due to issues related to her alcoholism. This time, Crystal retained custody of the children. By 1995, their relationship had deteriorated further, with Crystal reporting threats to the police, eventually obtaining a protective order against Holton in 1997.

On November 30, 1997, Holton, aged 36, shot and killed his three sons—Stephen (12), Brent (10), Eric (6)—and their 4-year-old half-sister, Kayla, at his work garage in Shelbyville using a Chinese-made SKS semi-automatic rifle. He then turned himself in to the police and told them, “families should stay together; a father should be with his children,” and admitted he had intended to kill his ex-wife and then himself but changed his mind.

Holton’s trial took place in June 1999. He declined to testify, and his defense suggested mental incompetence due to possible carbon monoxide poisoning. Psychiatrists diagnosed him with major depressive disorder and passive-aggressive personality disorder. The jury, however, rejected the insanity plea and found him guilty of four counts of first-degree murder.

While incarcerated, Holton became disillusioned with appeals and legal representation, opting to pursue a volunteer death-row status—actively choosing to be executed rather than fight his sentence.

On September 12, 2007, Holton was executed by electrocution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. He was the first Tennessee inmate executed this way since 1960 and one of few in the U.S. to choose the electric chair over lethal injection when offered. At 1:25 a.m, following the warden’s prompt for final words, Holton said, “Two words: I do,” referencing his acceptance of execution and refusing any final meal beyond prison fare. His body was cremated afterward, closing a grim chapter in Tennessee’s criminal history as its first electrocution in nearly 50 years. Holton was pronounced dead at 1:25 a.m. CDT .