Naman Shrestha
In the episode titled ‘The Plot to Eliminate Alyssa Burkett’ of CBS’ ’48 Hours,’ viewers get a detailed account of the brutal killing of a 24-year-old mother named Alyssa Burkett in October 2020. When the news of her untimely demise broke out, it sent shockwaves across the entire community while the victim’s family, though devastated, began searching for answers along with the investigators. The investigation, which was full of twists and turns, led the detectives to uncover something darker at play. The episode also features interviews with Alyssa’s loved ones and the officials linked to the investigation help put things into perspective for the viewers.
Alyssa Burkett Was Ambushed Right Outside Her Workplace
The beloved daughter of Josh Forsyth and Teresa Ann Burkett, Alyssa Ann Burkett, was brought into the world on New Year’s Eve of 1995 in Mesquite, Texas. Growing up with three sisters — Taylor Forsyth, Madison Grimes, and Nicki Collard — and a couple of brothers named Landon and Tyler Collard, she turned out to be an ambitious, free-spirited, strong-willed, and driven woman. Given her ability to light up any room she walked into, it was easy for her to make friends. At some point, she got into a relationship with Andrew Beard, with whom she even shared a daughter named Willow Ann.
With such a bright future ahead of her, it was a shock when her life was abruptly taken away on October 2, 2020. That afternoon, she was at her workplace, a Carrollton apartment complex, where her body was found. When the authorities arrived at the scene, they called the victim’s mother, Teresa, and gave her the nightmarish news about her daughter. Upon inspecting the body and the scene of the crime, the investigators concluded that she was shot and stabbed to death. Thus, they set up a perimeter and launched an extensive murder investigation.
Alyssa Burkett Was Subjected to Intense Harassment By Her Killers
As soon as Alyssa Burkett’s mother and sister reached the site, the detectives were quick to interview them and ask if they had any suspicions about anyone. Teresa wasted no time in coming up with the name of her daughter’s baby father — Andrew Beard. Within an hour of getting to the crime scene, the detectives found their first lead, but little did they know that the road to justice was full of twists and turns. Upon digging deeper into Andrew’s life and bond with Alyssa, they learned that he had moved on and had been in a relationship with another woman named Holly Elkins since April 2020. Within a month or so, they began shopping for engagement rings.
However, one of the things that kept bothering Holly was the fact that Andrew had to stay associated with his former girlfriend, Alyssa, because of the daughter they had together. Thus, in order to harass Alyssa, Andrew and Holly went to extreme lengths starting in the summer of 2020. Around the same time, Holly moved in with Andrew, and they installed a GPS tracker in Alyssa’s vehicle. In the ensuing weeks and months, they continued making her life a living hell by making false reports to the police of her driving dangerously on the interstate. Furthermore, they also claimed that Alyssa’s mother, Teresa, attacked Holly. The couple even hired a private investigator to help them find dirt on Alyssa and her new boyfriend.
On September 2, 2020, Andrew and Holly planted illegal drugs and a handgun inside the former’s ex-girlfriend. Assuming a fake name, he reported to the police that she had been dealing drugs to black men out of her car in an attempt to get her arrested. When all these attempts failed to come to fruition, they reportedly hatched a plan to get rid of Alyssa once and for all. Leading up to the day of the murder, the couple reportedly purchased dark makeup, a black rain suit, a knife, and .410 shotgun shells. When the authorities went through the phone records of the two suspects, they found a text between them dated one week before the killing, in which Holly told him, “I hope you handle it.” Andrew then reportedly searched how to remove gunpowder residue from his hands on Google.
The Killers Were Brought to Justice Eventually
According to the authorities, on October 2, 2020, Alyssa’s baby father planted a GPS tracking device on her vehicle and tailed her in a rented black SUV as she drove down to the Carrollton apartment complex where she worked. Upon reaching the destination, Andrew — disguised as a black man donning the black rain suit — got out of his car armed with a shotgun and approached Alyssa, who was still inside her car. He then proceeded to shoot her in the head. When he noticed that she got out of the car and attempted to ask for help, he ran back over to the parking lot and stabbed her 44 times. Meanwhile, Holly stayed back at his Rockwall house with his daughter. When confronted about the night, she claimed that Andrew was with her at the house at the time of the murder.
Although Andrew Beard was arrested shortly after the crime, he pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and using a dangerous weapon, resulting in death in June 2022. In exchange, he received a reduced sentence of 43 years in prison. On the other hand, Holly Ann Elkins was officially indicted for the murder in June 2023, and her trial began in April 2024. After a week of trial, on April 17, the jury found her guilty and convicted the 32-year-old defendant of conspiracy to stalk, stalking using a dangerous weapon resulting in death, and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. A few months later, on August 15, she was handed two consecutive life sentences for being involved in the murder of her fiancé’s former girlfriend.
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