Daryl Renard Atkins was born on November 6, 1977. He grew up in York County, Virginia. 

On August 16, 1996, Daryl Atkins and William Jones spent the day drinking and smoking marijuana. Later that night, they went to a convenience store to buy more beer but did not have enough money. Atkins decided to panhandle. At around 11:30 p.m., Eric Nesbitt entered the store. When Nesbitt left, Atkins hijacked his truck at gunpoint. Jones drove while Atkins took Nesbitt hostage.

Atkins and Jones stole $60 from Nesbitt's wallet and then forced him to withdraw $200 from a local bank's drive-through ATM. After this, they drove to a secluded area where they discussed what to do with Nesbitt. Instead of just tying him up and leaving him, Atkins ordered Nesbitt out of the truck and shot him to death, inflicting eight bullet wounds.

Both men were arrested after the crime. William Jones testified against Atkins, leading to Atkins being convicted of capital murder. He was sentenced to death. However, the Virginia Supreme Court reversed the death sentence because of an issue with the sentencing verdict form.

During a retrial, forensic psychologist Dr. Evan Nelson testified that Atkins had an IQ of 59, suggesting he was mildly mentally retarded. Although he acknowledged that Atkins understood the wrongness of his actions, he stated that Atkins's capacity to appreciate his conduct was impaired. Another psychologist, Dr. Stanton Samenow, disagreed with this assessment, arguing that Atkins demonstrated at least average intelligence.

Atkins was sentenced to death again, and this sentence was upheld by the Virginia Supreme Court. Atkins's case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court, leading to a landmark decision that ruled executing mentally retarded individuals is unconstitutional. However, the decision did not clarify whether Atkins himself qualified as mentally retarded, leaving it to Virginia to determine.

In 2005, a Virginia jury found Atkins was not mentally retarded. Subsequently, his execution was scheduled for December 2005, but this was delayed. In January 2008, a judge commuted Atkins's sentence to life in prison after finding prosecutorial misconduct in his case.