Patricia Ruth Holt (Dallas County Sheriff”s Office).
It may have just been a matter of time. But quite a bit if it was.
Patricia Ruth Holt, 57, stands accused of one count of murder in the first degree, according to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident in question involved the shooting and death of Carl Joseph Donaldson, aged 47, in late July. The deceased was later recognized as the manager of Holt at Hutchins Trucking Yard.
Nearly four decades earlier, Holt was charged with attempted murder.
According to The Daily Freeman, on September 25, 1986, when the defendant was an 18-year-old high school senior residing in Red Hook, a neighborhood close to the port in Brooklyn, New York, she arrived at school armed with a loaded 12-gauge shotgun.
Holt was furious about being expelled from an English class for “behavioral issues” and seemed determined to confront the teacher responsible for her punishment.
Luckily, the teacher was absent from the classroom when Holt entered. She then proceeded to a faculty lounge, where she was swiftly subdued by two other teachers. The teachers managed to disarm her, leading to her arrest without anyone sustaining injuries.
Initially faced with charges of attempted murder, attempted assault, and criminal trespass, all felonies, in addition to misdemeanor weapon possession, Holt ultimately pleaded guilty to attempted assault. Due to her age, she was sentenced to five years of probation.
Over time, Holt moved to Florida. Then, North Carolina.
In June, the defendant began working for the North Texas-based trucking company in question. Roughly a month later, her boss would be dead.
The victim’s widow said Holt was trouble from the start.
Holt’s first week on the job required some guidance, as she had to be advised not to exceed speed limits while driving the truck, as shared by the grieving widow in an interview with the Freeman. Additionally, she needed reminders about adhering to traffic regulations.
“She just went off,” the widow said. “He kept calm, but she just kept screaming that she’s been driving a f–ing truck for 30 years. She stormed out of the office, slammed the door and you could still hear her yelling and screaming outside. She just couldn’t stand being told what to do.”
The fatal flare-up began several hours earlier in Waco – a large city located just outside the northern edge of the Hill Country, a central-southern region of the Lone Star State. There, Holt allegedly got into an argument with a customer, the widow told the paper.
The alleged rage apparently carried several hundred miles north after the victim is said to have told Holt to apologize to the customer and pick up the load – or to to empty the truck and leave it in Waco.
The widow said Holt returned with the truck, but on arrival back in Hutchins – a small suburb of Dallas – the defendant allegedly got on a tractor-trailer, drove around in circles, then aimed to hit Donaldson.
The widow said her husband, a Purple Heart recipient, remained calm – and even jumped on the tractor-trailer to try and diffuse the situation and open the door. Then, came a tell-tale sound.
“At that time, I had my back turned and I heard a pop,” the distraught woman told the paper. “I turned around and looked and I see my husband flying through the air and falling on the ground.”
When law enforcement arrived on the scene, Holt allegedly led deputies on a slow-speed chase before spike strips were deployed. Then, she barricaded herself in the cab of the vehicle for just shy of four hours, according to the sheriff’s office.
She surrendered at 8:55 p.m., Central Standard Time, the sheriff’s office said in a press release obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
During an interview, the defendant allegedly said she hoped to kill herself or manage to end her life through “suicide by cop.”
Holt also allegedly told investigators she had her sights set on Donaldson “for months,” despite the length of her employment.
“[T]hey have been f—ing with her for too long,” a deputy wrote – allegedly transcribing the gripes uttered by the accused killer.
Holt is being detained in the Dallas County Jail on $1 million bail.
