Dr. Insanity - Teen Killer Doesn't Realize He's Being Recorded

Episode Date: December 1, 2025

This is 19-year-old Hollis Daniels.. He just got arrested and has somehow managed to sneak a g*n into jail. And that's when all hell, breaks loose… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is 19-year-old Hollis Daniels. He just got arrested and has somehow managed to sneak a gun into jail. You have a family at home? You have any kids. Pretty old. And this is where all hell breaks loose. The moment this happens, the entire police station goes into lockdown as officers, scrambled to make sense of the situation. They have no idea who did this and how something like

this can even happen. Hollis, on the other hand, was by this time long gone and thought he was going to get away with it. A little did he know his heinous crime was being recorded every step of the way by hitting cameras. Now the chase was on to catch this cold-blooded team killer. It's funny. My mom called me and said, really do you okay, there's been a shooting, and they say it to you. And immediately then I knew I'm going to be able for the rest of my life. At around 1 a.m. on the 8th of October, Hollis Daniels got into an argument with his friends. Allegedly, Hollis had stolen his friend Leo's gun, and at one point even threatened him with it. As Hollis left the house that evening, Leo called the police telling them exactly what happened, and Hollis was pulled over at around 138.

Am, had the traffic stop you're about to see ended even slightly differently, Officer Floyd East Jr. might still be alive to this day. What's going on, man? I'm a officer, police department. Where were you coming from? We've got to call about you causing the disturbance. The disturbance? Yeah, over at your friend's house.

What's your friend's name? Leo. Leo? Okay, why was Leo calling us telling us, you're missing with him? I have no idea, sir. Because I guess he didn't, I don't know. I don't know. Okay. Do you have any guns or any weapons in the deal?

Any drugs or anything like that? Step out here and talk to me, man, okay? Okay. Is that necessary, sir? Yeah, it is necessary, okay? Just come to send a weird for me, okay? After stepping out, Hollis tells the officers that he did get into an argument with his friends, even getting thrown onto the floor at one point. However, he's adamant that he didn't steal anything from them, especially not a gun.

The cops, though, aren't so sure. and want to search his vehicle to prove him wrong. You don't have a gun inside the vehicle? Do you have a gun on your person? No, I don't have you. You care if we search your vehicle? Yes, sir. You don't want to search your vehicle?

Yeah, but not because I don't have a gun. I just don't know if it's not necessary. No, it is necessary because right now you're involved in an investigation. That's why I'm asking if you have a gun in your car. No. I cannot put your vehicle for a gun. Yes, sir. Okay, then hang on to him.

I'm going to go there and see what's going on on that side. Then I'll be back over here. Might as well, just put him in the back of the building. Okay. So we could go out. Okay. As Hollis didn't give consent to search, the officers never ended up looking inside his vehicle.

It could have been argued they had probable cause, but in this situation, the officers must have thought it was a gray area and let it slide. Sources say that it's very likely Hollis did indeed have the gun with him in the car, and that a search would have likely recovered the weapon and saved Officer Floyd's life. But instead, Hollis was given a friendly send-off and allowed to return back home.

Damn, you said I tried to kill him? Or he said that I said that? Yeah, that's what you told the other officer. You carry on with your night, man. Be home safe, buddy. Get some new friends. The very next evening, a call came in from a student saying that they'd heard a gunshot

and saw another student holding a gun. The cops, of course, took this extremely seriously, as they were worried that he might harm himself or others on the campus. So at 5.59 p.m., Officer Floyd East Jr. conducted a welfare check with his partner. Texas Tech Police Department, we're keying in. Inside, Hollis was nowhere to be seen. But the officers did manage to wake up his roommate, whom they were able to question about Hollis's whereabouts. Hey, what's on, man? What's your name?

Andy. Andy? Is that who we're looking for? No, we're not for Hollis. I just woke up and saw it. That's okay. What do you know about your partner that lives in this room down here? Hollis, Daniels?

Hollis? I don't know a whole lot about him. Really. I don't know. I've been really hung out with these guys a whole lot. Okay. Despite the lack of information, though, it wouldn't take long for the cops to find something extremely unnerving

that confirms their suspicions. There's a gun right here. revolver is a CO2 Unfortunately for the cops This isn't the weapon that they're looking for It's actually just a CO2 gun And the cops eventually end up coming dry on any real firearms

Or evidence that one has been discharged here However, they don't stop on their search And they instead happen on something that worries them Even more Probably is some drugs of paraphernalia in there But we can't tell from plain view so we'll just go ahead and see he's all on the end. And I don't know what those pills are, but there's another in there.

And he's, when I was looking inside this box, it looks like there's a little bag with some marijuana, maybe. The cops found small amounts of marijuana and a larger quantity of X concealed in a bottle that was supposed to be for antibiotics. According to his friends, Hollis had recently developed an addiction for X and was illegally obtaining it, alongside smoking weed to supposedly treat his anxiety. If that was indeed the case, imagine how nervous he must have felt when he returned home at 6.29 p.m. to see four police officers searching his dorm.

Hey, what's your name, bud? What's your name? Andreas. No, it's not. What? We've already talked to your other three roommates. We know what they look like. That was a good try, though.

Hey, stand up for me real quick. Do you have any weapons or anything on you? Interlace your fingers on top of your head. This is the first of two searches that will be conducted on Hollis, marking the most pivotal points in this case. From this point onwards, he's never let out of the officer's sight, and he never retrieves a gun from anywhere. It would later come to light that at this very moment, he had a loaded 45-caliber pistol, concealed in his waistband. A search should confirm that, but watch what happens when they start to pat him down.

Spread your feet out of a little for me. What's all in this pocket? Money? I can take it out? Yeah. Is it okay to just empty out all your pockets while we're doing this? Don't move your hands. Is that necessary?

I'm asking you a question. No, I don't think that's about it. Somehow, the officers don't find the gun, that'll be used to shoot one of these officers in just one hour from now. But the cops are clearly still suspicious. He gave a fake name and seems extremely nervous while being searched, tentatively asking to avoid searching in certain places. So what's going on with all this stuff in your room?

I scored five sometimes, I said, and I have a few people's... Yes, sir. So I'm searching in the jurors? Yes, sir. Okay. So you don't have a prescription for drugs? No.

Because that's a lot of zags for one person. While he's not in cuffs, Hollis seems remarkably calm. So while he's relaxed, they ask him a couple questions about the weapons before they throw him in cuffs. I have a, I do have a pellet gun, but it's not loaded. Yeah, we saw that too. What do you use the CO2 gun for? Honestly, I haven't even loaded his gun out here. Back home, we used to just shoot squirrels and stuff.

I thought it would be kind of fun, but then I realized it got here. There was not many squirrels here, you know what I'm saying? Then we also got a report, and we got shot. There was no gunshot in here. That's what we're told by who? Somebody that heard it. So, yeah. Oh, no, no, no, yeah.

I didn't, no, yeah. I didn't, I wasn't even here last night. I was over my buddy, uh, uh, 28th Street. What time did the shot go off? Because if he, if you look up the police reports from, uh, officer, what's the thing? It was Dougworth. Officer Dougworth. We went through this whole thing. Did he write you a ticket or anything? You didn't write me a ticket to let me go because the whole situation was, they thought that I stole their gun. And so then they went to search my car.

You can look at his, you can look at his, what time you pulled me over. And I bet that whatever time the gunshot was reported won't actually, because that was it. When the cops checks the reports, it turned out he was telling the truth. and the body cam from last night's traffic stop backs this story up. At this point, the cops could start to connect the dots. A kid accused of stealing a gun is now being accused of shooting it at university. It could definitely be assumed that something's gone overlooked. Either way, Hollis has been found in possession of multiple illegal drugs,

so the cops finally decide to arrest him. I don't know, we'll have to, it all depends on the weight and how much of the... the pills there are to kind of determine the the cops then start a second pat down one that Hollis remembers vividly he says he felt the officer check just millimeters away from the weapon but somehow never finding it

Hollis was then escorted from his dorm into a squad car where Officer Floyd tragically missed another opportunity to stop what happened to him in just 50 minutes as Hollis sits down in the patrol car Officer Floyd hears a strange noise

I'll be classed. One male. What was that big thumb? Oh, my handcuffs. That noise wasn't his handcuffs at all. It was actually the sound of his gun, falling down the leg of his pants and hitting the floor. As well as lying through his teeth, he was even able to reach down and fully conceal the gun back in his pants

before finishing his journey to the Texas Tech PD. When they arrived a 30-minute countdown full of tragic and negligent, mistakes would begin to take place. At 12 minutes past seven, one of the officer says that if Hollis continues to cooperate, they'll remove his handcuffs. If you cooperate with me, we'll go and pull these cuffs off a little bit, okay? And two minutes later, at 14 minutes passed, the officers make good on their promise and take his handcuffs off. 90 seconds later, Hollis and Officer Floyd enter a room to run through some paperwork and are left alone. There is no footage of another search taking place before or after they entered this room together.

At 7.44 p.m., Hollis asks Officer Floyd three questions. You have a family and home? Yeah. And the kids. Pretty old. Yeah. It's unclear why he chose to ask these questions. There was no incentive. And all it did was make him look like a complete and total psychopath.

Like he wanted him to know the damage that he was about to cause and the lie. and the lives that he was about to ruin. Four seconds pass before he reaches into his sock and takes a deep breath. The shot echoed through the station, alerting officers nearby. By the time they arrived, Floyd was already dead, and Hollis was nowhere to be seen. Assuming Floyd's body cam to be the only camera in the room, he grabbed it and fled,

with no idea that the entire incident had been recorded on this hidden. surveillance camera. Despite the suspect being gone, cops knew there could only be one suspect, and they immediately placed the campus on lockdown and began a two-hour-long manhunt for an armed teen killer. 6.58, the PD is not secure. Got an officer down. He shot in our briefing room. We don't know where the suspect went. He's about a 19-year-old white male skinny. What's the warrant? Blue jeans. Believe a light-colored t-shirt. He had muddy, mud on his jeans from the knees down. Blue jeans and a white t-shirt?

Yeah, and he's got facial hair. Can you relate the information one more time? Yeah. So we can get all the perimeter units clear on what we're looking for. What's his last name? Daniel's. Daniel's last name, first name, Hollis. After securing the area, detailing a full and proper description of Hollis

and searching the campus for a total of 90 minutes, Hollis was eventually found and apprehended without further injury. When he was finally caught, he said cold-bloodedly that he was, quote, the one that shot their friend. He was found carrying Floyd's body cam and a loaded 45-caliber pistol. At every turn, Hollis got as lucky as he possibly could have, while Floyd got the opposite. After being caught, Hollis also told the officers that he'd done something f***ed up and ill-locked. implying that he had some remorse for what happened. However, a phone call to his family recorded at 1114 that night

showed that the only thing he regretted was being caught. I'm getting on the phone with a criminal defendant's attorney. I would really advise me not to say anything. Yeah, on the quote, I haven't been saying anything. I haven't been saying anything, really. But there's pretty hot, so it's all the proof against me and is the problem. I know that reason. I know that you think that that doesn't matter, but I'm telling you, it's just, no. I don't know me. Carrie, you know me. I'm not going to say shit. I was, I supported someone who was sold to me yesterday. I said, no, I didn't even have sold me.

I, you know me. I'm not going to say anything that they would jeopardize that. I'm just saying it's just I love you and you'll get your bitch. Yeah. It's my dumb, I thought that I shouldn't. on this anyway. I'm stupid. Hollis's demeanor in this call is frankly terrifying. It's almost as if he's talking to his family about the drug charge

and not the first degree murder charge. And the biggest issue on his mind seems to be being kicked out of school. This may be a little more extreme. I think that they're probably going to keep me out of Texas Tech High School. And I think that they're...

Huh? After this call, he was taken by police to an interrogation room, where it seems the reality of the situation finally hits him. Well, you guys know the whole story? What do you think is the most likely possible out of him? Well, I don't know the whole story. I f*** up. Hold on.

I'm just... I know. It's a bad situation. I got it. Okay. You know, it's funny. My mom called me and said, really do you okay, there's been a shooting, and they say it to you.

And immediately then I knew, you know, I'm going to be able to the rest of my life, dropping out of college. You know what? We've got to figure this out first, okay? Yes, sir. Rightly, Hollis isn't even trying to defend himself. He knows he's done something horrifying and is going to pay the price for it. But the detectives are still plagued with the question of why on earth he did what he did,

So they ask him to recount the moment where he took Floyd's life. So I got back to my dorm, and there was already police officers in there. They busted me for sex and marijuana, and they shook me back to the station. And I, to my head, I thought, you know, I can't have this third strike against me. This is going to be it, you know what I mean? Not thinking logically. And so I did something very illogical and regret it deeply, and I don't know how I'll have a little makeup for it.

Okay? So kind of cover what you're asking? Hollis seems to be seeking approval from the detectives. It genuinely does seem as though he feels guilty for what he did, as he's putting himself down and asking the detective if what he said is enough. I was taking back to the police station and something just clicked in my head and I said, I can't, I can't do this.

I can't go back like this, but then I made a worse decision to go back and do something that I thought I could. I'm just ready to go in jail and call my parents. I really would like to call my parents because they weren't even to think about me because they saw it on the news. He's stuttering, repeating himself, and all he wants. wants to do is call his parents. Hollis is starting to shut down, overwhelmed with shame, regret, and guilt.

The longer this conversation goes on for, the more you have to wonder what compelled him to take that officer's life in the way that he did. And you've got to imagine his parents are thinking the very same thing. Hello, this is Dan. Hey, Dad, it's me, Reed.

Reed, honey. Are you okay? I'm okay. I'm very safe. I'm with some very nice people right now, and I'm in trouble, and I messed up badly. Oh, Reeve, honey. I love you so. I don't even, you'll be there tonight around 11, I'm shaking all over, and I can't cry.

I can't drive that. I can't drive that. Nothing. I want to concede. I want to conceive. What, what, what happened? I mean, what, why would you do something out there? You don't know?

I do know and it doesn't make sense and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I brought this disrespect to my family. What? I'm sorry I brought this disrespect to my family again. God, I'm so sorry. No, don't be sorry. It's not you. It's my fault.

You did nothing wrong. I did. It's me. And I think they're going to put me away for a little while and there's nothing I can do about it. I'll phone to you when I get there. I'll talk to you when I get there. I love you. Okay.

Yes, sir. I love you, Dad. 25 of the life. Plus more because there's other stuff. I mean, look, look, that would be the responsible thing to do is to give you jail time and then maybe I can go off the rule. But it's just going to change, not your problem, it's just going to change how I have to go about what I'm going to do. All of that's up to the district attorney's office. Okay.

Of course, the distance you're going to give him something applied a lot. So, yeah. Okay. Okay. Do you have anything else you want to say? I guess what. But Hollis' motive for all of this, though, would be the biggest mystery of all. Some say it was influenced by his addiction.

Some say that he had undiagnosed mental problems, or a combination of the two. At the end of the day, it's all speculative. and we can only turn to what he said in court. It doesn't make sense. I thought I was stuck. I thought it was all over. I thought this was an opportunity to go out, to commit soon. There was no rational line of thought that I had.

He also told the court that he wanted to go out with a bang and that he asked Floyd about his family because he wanted them to be the last thing that he thought about. It seems as though Hollis panicked. He was scared about the consequences of the drug charges and was influenced by drugs, mental issues, or something else to take the absolute worst route possible. After dodging three separate searches and almost being caught multiple times, he might have even thought that this was meant to be.

He turned a simple possession of narcotics charge into a first-degree murder charge. And now, he's facing the death sentence. When asked why the jury should spare him, he said, I think it's totally fair to say life for life, but then on the other hand, I think about my family, and the truth is, I'm biased in my own favor. I don't want to die. Not anymore. After deliberating for three days, a jury eventually concluded that Hollis should serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.