Rowlett woman found guilty of plotting to kill ex-fiancee's girlfriend

Holly Ann Elkins, a Rowlett woman who helped her ex-fiancée murder his ex-girlfriend, has been convicted by a jury, and could face life in prison.

Elkins helped her then-fiancee Andrew Charles Beard, who shot and stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death in 2020.

According to evidence presented at trial, Elkins helped plot the Oct. 2, 2020 murder of 24-year-old Alyssa Ann Burkett, Beard’s ex-girlfriend, with whom he shared a young daughter.

On April 17, after a seven-day trial and an hour and a half of deliberation, a jury convicted her of conspiracy to stalk, stalking using a dangerous weapon resulting in death, and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.

Beard previously pleaded guilty to stalking using a dangerous weapon resulting in death and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and was sentenced to 43 years in federal prison.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton called it "heinous domestic violence."

“Holly Elkins and Andrew Beard constructed a campaign of terror aimed at Alyssa Ann Burkett, the mother of Mr. Beard’s young daughter," Simonton said. "After months of harassment and stalking, this campaign ended in the incredibly violent murder of Alyssa at the hands of Mr. Beard with Ms. Elkins’s full participation and knowledge in the planning and ensuing attempted cover-up."

"I pray that today’s verdict brings the victim’s family the peace they need to move forward. I know they will never allow Alyssa’s daughter to forget just how much her mother loved her,” Simonton said.

The government argued that Elkins questioned Burkett’s fitness as a parent, then goaded Beard into killing Burkett, calling her a “c**t” and a “dumb b**ch” and a “garbage s**t mom.”

Elkins and Beard began a relationship in April 2020. By May, they were shopping for engagement rings, but Elkins grew frustrated by Beard’s continuing association with Burkett, then began a campaign to harass Burkett in summer 2020, shortly after Elkins moved in with Beard.

That included placing a GPS tracker on Burkett’s vehicle, making a fake 911 call claiming that Burkett’s car was driving erratically on the interstate, falsely reporting to police that Burkett’s mother had attacked her, including creating scratches on her chest to support the lie. Elkins and Beard also hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on Burkett and her new boyfriend. Elkins helped Beard plant drugs and a gun in Burkett’s vehicle, then called the police and claimed Burkett was selling drugs to black men out of her car.

They bought dark clothes, makeup, shotgun shells, and a knife. A week before the murder, Elkins texted Beard and said “I hope you handle it.” She requested that he be “ride or die” for her and said if he was not, she is not sure the relationship can continue. Shortly after that text exchange, Google records reflect that Beard began conducting searches for how to remove gunpowder from his hands.

On October 2, 2020, Beard dressed in a black rainsuit and disguised as a Black man then shot Burkett in the head with a shotgun while she sat behind the wheel of her car in her work parking lot. As she staggered out of the car, he grabbed her and stabbed and slashed her 44 times. Her coworkers found her covered in blood and gasping for air in front of her office front door. She died as her they tried to aid her.

At the trial, Burkett’s new boyfriend testified that he believed Elkins was the “puppet master” behind the murder.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, the Carrollton Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gary Tromblay, Rick Calvert, and Ryan Niedermair are prosecuting the case. U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle presided over trial.