 No one doubts how Heidi Taylor was murdered. After she was stabbed more than 60 times and endured one fatal shot to the head, it was clear to investigators what had taken place. But now, five years after the crime, the teenage boy who was convicted of killing her maintains that he's innocent. It wasn't me who killed her. It was Jeff. Jeff is inside me. Donovan Nicholas claims that he wasn't the one in control when his mom was killed. Instead, he blames the death on the voices in his head, more specifically, the voice of his alter ego known as Jeff the Killer. Donovan Nicholas grew up in Urbana, Ohio, alongside his mother, Heidi Taylor, his step-sister, Alyssa Taylor, and his brother, Todd. His father, Shane Nicholas, had been in a relationship with another woman in the late 90s and early 2000s, but this relationship wasn't meant to last. After Donovan's birth mother exited the picture sometime shortly after he was born, Shane, Donovan's father, became Donovan's legal guardian. After making it through was likely a pretty messy breakup, Shane had begun to date again. He met Heidi Taylor way back in 1993, and it seems that the two were in contact with each other on and off since then. We don't know the specifics of how everything unfolded, but we know that Shane and Heidi became official sometime in 2005. They never actually married, but they moved in together around this time, and Donovan began referring to Heidi as his mom. After all, she was the only mother he'd ever known, after his birth mother walked out of his life when he was less than three years old. Heidi Taylor has been described by everyone who knew her as a loving mother and an all-around great person. Her daughter, Alyssa, often describes her mother as her best friend, and it seems that the two were inseparable. It's not uncommon, though, after someone has passed away, for people to forget all the negative aspects of that person's life and whitewash them as being this perfect person. But in Heidi's case, it doesn't seem like anyone had anything negative to say about her whatsoever, both when she was alive and after she had passed. Well, everyone except for Donovan. Unfortunately, Donovan Nicholas wasn't always the perfect son that Heidi and Shane had hoped for. I can't say this with any certainty, but it seems that Donovan may have held deep resentment towards his birth mother for walking out on him, as well as his stepmother for trying to do her best to fill her shoes. All we know for sure is that Heidi did her best to raise Donovan, spending as much time with him as she did her birth children. Donovan was never considered second-rate, nor was he pushed aside in exchange for the children that Heidi had naturally birthed. But for Donovan, it seemed like whatever Heidi tried, it just wasn't enough. We know that the two got into arguments on and off, but I can't tell if these arguments were frequent or if they were the typical arguments that parents get into with almost every teenager. Unfortunately, since this case began to make headlines and become more public, Shane, Donovan's father, opted out of every opportunity for an interview or a public comment. So I'm really doing my best here to piece together what Donovan's early life would have looked like using clues that I found in public records and on social media. But without Shane being around to confirm all of this, it's really nothing more than conjecture. With that said, from the outside, the Nicholas and Taylor household appeared to be your average American family. Everyone was happy most of the time and they lived on a decent enough income to make ends meet and keep everyone satisfied. And for a small family in Urbana, Ohio, that's about all you could ask for. April 6, 2017 was a day like any other for Donovan and his mother, Heidi. They were hanging out at the family's home that day, with Donovan being busy on his phone while Heidi attended to other things around the home. According to reports from prosecutors, Donovan had been texting a girl who lived out of state. The two seemed to have been engaged in an online relationship for at least a few months with the relationship beginning to heat up over the last couple of weeks. As the relationship grew, they began to share intimate details with one another and this eventually grew to them sharing private photos as well. The only problem is that Donovan was just 14 years old at the time and his parents had no clue that he'd become so involved with this girl. You can imagine her surprise when Heidi uncovered that the two had been sharing provocative photos back and forth on the afternoon of April 6th. She was naturally outraged that Donovan would have done something like this and she immediately took his phone away, waiting to tell his father about this when he returned home, presumably later that day. Donovan became incredibly angry about this but it also seemed that he was probably embarrassed as well. I mean, who wouldn't be? His mother had just uncovered his dirty little secret and planned to put an end to what Donovan perceived to be a potential long-term relationship. The two got into a serious argument about the situation and Donovan eventually stormed off. Heidi continued on with her daily tasks but for Donovan, this argument wasn't over and he planned to have the last word. A short while later, Donovan devised a plan to get back at his stepmother. After all, in his eyes, she'd always treated him as second best. He never felt like he was good enough in the eyes of Heidi and he'd finally reached a breaking point. Something inside of Donovan shifted that day something none of his family members or friends could have ever expected. What was already a bad day for Donovan and his mother was about to get far, far worse. Later that afternoon, Donovan quietly slipped into the kitchen of the home. When Heidi wasn't looking, he grabbed a knife from a kitchen drawer and snuck it into the upstairs bedroom of the home. He crept inside the bedroom and hid behind the door knowing that at some point, Heidi would come into the room giving him the opportunity that he'd been waiting for for years. Unfortunately, his plan worked. Heidi came into the bedroom just a few minutes later completely unaware of Donovan's hiding place. As she had her back turned, Donovan jumped out from behind the door knife in hand and began to hack away at his mother. Once he was satisfied with what he had done, he stopped and took a breather. His mother tried to escape to a different room of the home but Donovan soon followed and began attacking her again. All the while, Heidi was pleading with her son to stop and call an ambulance for help. But Donovan ignored her cries. After a few brief moments, Donovan made the decision to end his mother's pain once and for all. Grabbing a weapon from his parents' bedroom and ending his mother's suffering with a single round. At some point during the attack, Donovan managed to injure himself wounding his leg to the point that he could no longer walk. It was then that he decided to call 911 asking the dispatcher to send someone to his aid. The 911 call is utterly heartbreaking but it's also incredibly important to the case because Donovan never admitted guilt for what he had done. Instead, he blamed someone else, a voice in his head that belonged to the infamous serial killer from internet folklore, Jeff the Killer. My mother and I need to go to the hospital. And what happened? It wasn't me who, it wasn't me who killed her. It was Jeff. The story of Jeff the Killer first popped up online back in 2011 when a terrifying photo was posted by an amateur artist alongside a story that documented the fictional origins of the character in the photo. According to the urban legend, Jeff was the name of a 13-year-old boy who'd been bullied all of his life. As the years ticked by, his bullies grew worse and worse and they began to attack him in ways that are unimaginable. This all reached a boiling point one day when his bullies attempted to claim Jeff's life. Jeff was left permanently disfigured by the bullies after they burned him, leaving terrible scars behind that made him appear similar to the Joker from the Batman film The Dark Knight. Soon after, Jeff had a mental breakdown and enacted revenge against his former bullies, but not only that, he took out his rage on his parents as well, killing them both. In a final bid to right the wrongs of his bullies, Jeff carved a smile into his own face so that he would never have to frown again. He was later picked up by police when they uncovered his crimes, labeling him as a serial killer. This is the story that seems to have led to Donovan Nicholas's belief that he had been overcome by Jeff the Killer, but this is where many investigators can't seem to agree. What happened? I'm sorry, this took him a really hard to explain, but I kind of have another person inside me like, I know, I stabbed myself. Dear mom. He killed her, she's mad. Was Donovan truly afflicted by mental illness that caused him to have these disturbing delusions? Or was he a cold-hearted murderer that simply wanted revenge against his mother after she punished him by taking his phone? He stabbed her, then he shot her, but that's where it wasn't me. It was Jeff. Jeff is inside me. Jeff is inside you? Now, let me preface by saying that I'm obviously not a mental health expert. I'm just some guy in a YouTube video, but Donovan Nicholas's 911 call seems to suggest that he may have made up the entire story about being overcome by the spirit of Jeff the Killer. Hey, I'm no control over him. Mom, why did Jeff hurt your mom? She always, she always did drugs. And she told her, like, ignore me. Like, why didn't she hit me? He began the call by telling the dispatcher that he'd killed his own mother, but just a moment later, he recants this confession and suggests that Jeff did it. Several people online have also been quick to point out that near the end of the call, the dispatcher asks why he did it or rather why Jeff did it. This is where things get really creepy and change the whole narrative of the story. Nicholas tells the dispatcher, quote, he was always tired of her. She did drugs and totally ignored me. Once she hit me, she was done. Notice how he shifts perspectives midway through that statement? He begins by saying that Jeff was always tired of her, but he ends his statement by speaking of himself in first person again. Explaining how frustrated he was with his mother and the anger in his voice is palpable. I am so scared. I didn't want to kill her. This is the people that are going to be coming in my house. Are they going to hurt me? Sir, nobody's gonna hurt you, okay? Nobody wants to hurt you. Just no teasing or pepper spray or something like that. This doesn't appear to have been an issue with Donovan having a split personality. This appears to have been an issue with Donovan claiming his mother's life in a blind fit of rage. At least that's my personal opinion. The only problem with this opinion is that according to court psychologists, I'm wrong. Donovan was picked up by police and taken in for questioning and it doesn't seem like police had any patience with him. Most of the deputies who've spoken about the case publicly agree with my personal assessment saying that Donovan doesn't appear to have shown any signs of mental illness. He purely appeared to be a liar. However, Donovan was assessed by two separate forensic psychologists during his trial and both of these psychologists suggested that Donovan had underlying mental health issues with one of these psychologists suggesting that he may have suffered from a type of dissociative personality disorder. Essentially, that's a disorder that causes people to possess at least two or more personalities. What's really interesting about this disorder is that it doesn't present itself in the way that you might think. Television and movies may lead you to believe that when you have a DID episode you black out and have no idea what's going on but that's not always the case. Many people who suffer from DID report that they're fully aware of what's going on when they're having an episode but they're unable to control themselves or stop the event from happening. It's sort of like having your mind hijacked by someone that you don't even know. You're a firsthand witness to everything going on but you are just as powerless as the victim and in a way you become a victim yourself. But here's where things get even more crazy. The jury didn't buy one second of this. In fact, they believed Donovan was lying as well. Regardless of what the mental health professionals claimed about Donovan's mental disorders the jury decided that it was all made up and they convicted him of murder with the judge handing down a sentence of 25 years to life. But Donovan's defense team wasn't finished with the case just yet. What really sets this case apart from similar cases is that you have to remember Donovan was just 14 years old when the crime took place. Thus he was sent to juvenile court but immediately after juvenile court reviewed his case they escalated it to the adult court system claiming that the juvenile court wasn't capable of properly reviewing Donovan's case because of his mental illness. Thus he was tried as an adult. But thanks to a loophole in the system Donovan's defense team was able to successfully reverse his conviction. I'm not going to pretend that I understand all the ins and outs of this process but as of December of 2022 Donovan's murder conviction was reversed and he's now being sent back to juvenile court and will be tried again but this time as a minor. This would mean that Donovan may be a free man again much sooner than anyone expected. He's currently just 20 years old and if his defense team has it their way the murder conviction will be wiped from Donovan's record and he'll be placed back into the free world with the rest of us. Donovan's stepsister has since spoken out against Donovan and says that she hopes he never sees the light of day again. She doesn't believe his story about Jeff the killer for one second and neither do the prosecuting officers who interrogated Donovan and neither do the jurors or the judge who oversaw his case. Even with his mental health issues Donovan was still considered competent enough to stand trial. So what ultimately matters is what the juvenile court system has to say about the matter. With all of this said you guys know where I stand and you've heard my opinion on the matter but I'm extremely curious to know what you think. Do you feel that Donovan was telling the truth and he did truly become a victim of his own mind or do you feel like he made the whole thing up as a way to get back at his stepmother and get away with his crimes? While we wait on all of this to be resolved in the coming months I'm anxious to know what you guys make of this so be sure to share your thoughts below. But with that I thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of True Crime Stories. If you like the channel and want to help it grow the best way that you can do that is by hitting the like button and leaving a comment below. Your comments help out much more than you might realize and they let the algorithm know that you're interested in these videos letting YouTube know that others might want to watch them as well. But with that I thank you guys so much for watching. My name is Tai Nats and I'll catch you guys in the next video.