REMEMBERING JERSEY 

Jersey Dianne Bridgeman was born on November 14, 2006, in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. She had just celebrated her sixth birthday six days before she died. By November 2012, Jersey was a kindergarten student at Sugar Creek Elementary School in Bentonville. She had a younger sister, Leah, and was remembered by people who knew her as a sweet little girl. The family of children who knew Jersey described her as their best friend. Jersey had already survived serious abuse before she reached kindergarten. A year before her death, her name had appeared in news reports after authorities discovered that her father and stepmother had been chaining her to a dresser. That abuse became part of Jersey's story publicly while she was still alive. But it was not who Jersey was. She was a six year old girl who went to school, had friends, had a little sister and had already survived circumstances no child should have experienced. After everything Jersey had endured, she deserved the chance to finally feel safe.

JERSEY’S STORY

Before Jersey's murder, she lived for a period with her father, David Bridgeman, and stepmother, Jana Bridgeman, in Rogers, Arkansas. In November 2011, authorities learned that Jersey was being restrained inside their home. David admitted that he had cut a belt to fit around Jersey's ankle and used it to chain his daughter to a dresser. He claimed the restraint was intended to prevent her from wandering through the home and getting into medication and other things. Jersey was removed from the home. David and Jana were prosecuted and eventually pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, permitting abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor. David received an eighteen year prison sentence. Jana received twelve years, in addition to three years associated with a probation revocation. Jersey eventually returned to the care of her biological mother, DesaRae. By November 2012, the family was living in Bentonville. Their neighbors included Zachary Holly and his wife, Amanda. The families knew one another, and Zachary and Amanda sometimes helped care for Jersey and her younger sister. On the evening of November 19, Jersey and her younger sister were at the Holly home. Their mother returned from work around 11 p.m. When it was time for the girls to go home, Zachary carried Jersey back to her house while DesaRae carried Jersey's younger sister. The two children were placed together in bed. Sometime during the night, Zachary returned. He entered the home and took six year old Jersey from her bed. The following morning, DesaRae awoke and discovered that Jersey was missing while her younger daughter remained in the bed. She began searching for her. Zachary initially joined in the search for the little girl he already knew was dead. Police were called. Within minutes, an officer noticed an open door at a vacant house nearby. Officers entered the house. Jersey was inside. She was dead. The investigation determined that Jersey had been sexually assaulted and killed by asphyxiation. Forensic evidence ultimately connected Zachary Holly to the crime. Six days after celebrating her sixth birthday, Jersey's life was over.

WARNING SIGNS & SYSTEM FAILURES 

Jersey had an extensive history with the Arkansas child welfare system before her death. Arkansas Department of Human Services records document reports involving Jersey dating back years before the abuse that ultimately resulted in her removal from her father's home. Those records include a 2008 report alleging failure to protect and another alleging inadequate supervision. In 2009, there was an environmental neglect report. Another environmental neglect report followed in 2010. Those allegations were classified as unsubstantiated. On November 29, 2011, an allegation of inadequate supervision resulted in a true finding. The following day, a foster care case was opened after Jersey was removed from the home of her father and stepmother because she had been chained to a dresser with a dog collar. Additional reports followed. A December 2011 allegation involving striking a child was classified as unsubstantiated. In June 2012, DHS records show allegations involving sexual contact and sexually aggressive behavior. Those allegations were also classified as unsubstantiated. Jersey's history therefore contained repeated contacts with child protection authorities before her death. Her father and stepmother had already been imprisoned for abusing her. She had experienced removal from a caregiver's home. And only months before her murder, child welfare records contained allegations involving sexual concerns. None of those facts mean authorities could have predicted that a trusted neighbor would enter Jersey's home and murder her. Her murder was committed by a different person under different circumstances. But they show just how much instability and trauma Jersey had already endured before she was six years old. She had survived abuse by people responsible for caring for her. She had been removed from one unsafe home. She had begun kindergarten. She should have finally had the opportunity to simply be a child.

JUSTICE FOR JERSEY

Zachary Holly was arrested six days after Jersey's murder. He was prosecuted for capital murder, rape, kidnapping and residential burglary. In May 2015, a Benton County jury convicted him on all four charges. For the rape and kidnapping convictions, Holly received life sentences. He received an additional twenty year sentence for residential burglary. For the capital murder of Jersey, the jury unanimously sentenced him to death. His efforts to overturn his convictions have continued for years. Most recently, in April 2026, the Arkansas Supreme Court rejected his request for a new trial, leaving his convictions intact.

 

Zachary Holly

Relationship to Jersey: Neighbor and Family Friend

Conviction(s): Capital murder; Rape; Kidnapping; Residential burglary

Sentence: Death for capital murder; Life imprisonment for rape; Life imprisonment for kidnapping; 20 years for residential burglary

FOREVER REMEMBERED

There is something particularly painful about the fact that Jersey had already survived so much. She had survived being chained to furniture by adults who were supposed to protect her. She had been removed from that home. The people responsible for that abuse had been sent to prison. And Jersey kept going. She started kindergarten. She made friends. She became a big sister. She celebrated her sixth birthday. Six days later, another adult she knew and trusted took away every possibility that remained ahead of her. Jersey's story contains child abuse, failures, criminal trials and a murder that received national attention. But none of those things should become her identity. Her obituary did not describe a case. It described a six year old kindergarten student and named the family she left behind. That is the Jersey who deserves to remain. A little girl. A sister. A kindergarten student. A friend. A child who survived terrible things and deserved many more birthdays after her sixth.Abuse Angels remembers Jersey Bridgeman. Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.