Demetrius A. Holt, 25, known to family and friends as "Meat," was killed at American Legion Post No. 574 in northwest Atlanta on Sunday, December 7, 2008. The Atlanta Police Department investigated, and the Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in Atlanta from 2007 through 2017, lists his death as a homicide that remained open with no arrest.
Few details of the killing itself have been made public.
The available record does not say what time it happened, how he was killed, whether an argument or fight came first, how many people were present, or whether anyone else was hurt. No suspect description, vehicle or motive has been released in the material reviewed for this account.
His death later led to a civil case. The Daily Report, Georgia's legal newspaper, reported a $155,000 settlement in the killing at the Legion post. According to that report, Holt's daughter was not born until five months after her father died. The settlement indicates that his family pursued a claim over the killing, but a civil settlement is not a criminal charge, and no arrest connected to his death could be found.
A family-placed death notice published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on December 12, 2008, reads in part: "Mr. Demetrius A. Holt 'Meat' passed December 7, 2008." A homegoing service followed, a celebration of life common in Black churches in the South. He left behind a daughter he never met.
American Legion posts are veterans' clubs that often host social events, dances and gatherings on weekend nights, and his death came on a Sunday. A killing at such a place means that members, staff and guests were likely nearby. People who were at Post No. 574 that weekend may know what led to the violence and who was involved. His death was one of several on the city's Westside in late 2008: Ronnie Hill and Raphael Crumbley were killed nearby in the ten days before. Nothing links the cases.
Demetrius Holt is also the name of a different, older Atlanta man arrested in 2022 on burglary charges, and of other people in Kentucky and Tennessee. Those records have nothing to do with the 25-year-old who died in 2008.
Atlanta, the capital of Georgia and the center of a metro area of more than 5 million people, recorded roughly 75 to 130 homicides a year between 2007 and 2017. Most victims were young men killed with guns, and many of those killings never led to an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Demetrius Holt could be found in news archives or public records. More than 17 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was at American Legion Post No. 574 in December 2008, or who knew Demetrius "Meat" Holt and heard talk afterward of what happened, may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Atlanta Police Department Homicide Unit at 404-546-4235, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (404-577-8477), which may pay a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest.
