Jerry Scott Heidler was born on June 9, 1977, in Georgia. His early life was marked by severe neglect and abuse. He was placed in foster care due to his mother's inability to provide proper supervision and care. Heidler suffered physical and emotional abuse from his stepfather and mother. He exhibited self-destructive behaviors from a young age, including self-mutilation and standing in front of moving vehicles. He was institutionalized multiple times for psychiatric care and was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Heidler struggled with substance abuse and had a history of violent behavior. He became acquainted with the Daniels family through his sister, who was a foster child in their care. He later began a relationship with the Daniels' 16-year-old daughter, Jessica, which was disapproved of by her father, Danny Daniels. This disapproval led to Heidler being banned from the Daniels' home. In December 1997, Heidler's newborn son died shortly after birth, and he attended the funeral on December 3, 1997. Distraught, he left the funeral and, in the early hours of December 4, 1997, committed the murders.

In the early morning of December 4, 1997, Heidler broke into the Daniels family home in Santa Claus, Georgia, through a bathroom window. He retrieved a Remington 1100 semi-automatic shotgun from the family's gun cabinet and proceeded to shoot and kill Danny Daniels, 47, and his wife Kim Daniels, 33, in their sleep. He then killed their 8-year-old son, Bryant, and 16-year-old daughter, Jessica. 

After the murders, Heidler kidnapped three of the family's young daughters, leaving behind a 4-year-old boy and a 10-month-old infant. He sexually assaulted one of the girls before abandoning all three on a rural road in Bacon County. The girls were found by a farmer and safely returned to authorities. Approximately seven hours after the murders, Heidler was arrested at a relative's house in Alma, Georgia. He was charged with four counts of malice murder and three counts of kidnapping. 

In March 1998, a Toombs County grand jury formally indicted Heidler with multiple counts of murder, kidnapping, child molestation, and other offenses. Due to pre-trial publicity, the trial was moved to Walton County in December 1998. In July 1999, Heidler escaped from the Toombs County Jail by sawing through the bars of his cell window but was recaptured 12 hours later in Vidalia, Georgia. 

On September 2, 1999, Heidler was found guilty on all 11 counts, including four counts of malice murder, three counts of kidnapping, and charges of aggravated sodomy and child molestation. On September 4, 1999, he was sentenced to death for each of the four murders, along with two life sentences for the kidnapping and sodomy charges, and an additional 110 years for the remaining crimes. Heidler remains on death row at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison.