Modesto mother feels ‘devastated’ and misled by plea deal in son’s homicide case

The mother of a Modesto man slain in 2021 in Oakdale said she feels misled by a plea deal recently made by the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office and the defense.

Nathaniel Holland’s killer, 53-year-old Scott Staudenmaier, was sentenced on Jan. 31 to 12 years in prison, including time served, for voluntary manslaughter.

Holland, 21, died after being stabbed in the chest once by Staudenmaier on the 200 block of South Yosemite Avenue on Sept. 4, 2021. Staudenmaier was tried for second-degree murder, which resulted in a hung jury. The judge declared a mistrial and the defense worked on a plea deal with the prosecution.

Holland’s mother, Katie Holland-Martin, said the DA’s Office promised her ahead of trial that it would not “accept anything less than a second-degree murder” charge.

Following the mistrial, “it was pretty devastating to hear that they accepted that plea deal,” she said, adding that she wanted Staudenmaier “to rot in prison.”

Holland-Martin said she was told by a deputy district attorney that prosecutors were pursuing a second-degree murder charge. DA’s Office spokesman Wendell Emerson said that in preparing for trial, prosecutors “certainly knew that murder was a challenge.” A plea agreement was in the works with Staudenmaier’s attorneys, but after discussions with Holland’s family, the prosecution decided to push for murder.

“We did still believe we could prove the murder beyond a reasonable doubt,” Emerson said. “So that’s why we did go ahead and agree to the family’s wishes and take it to trial.”

Holland-Martin said that she has lost trust in the criminal justice system in Stanislaus County after the reduction of charges against her son’s killer and that change needs to happen. “I want the district attorney to see that their lack of response, not being forthcoming with what they say they’re going to do and not being transparent hurts families,” she said.

Why the jurors were conflicted on whether to convict Staudenmaier for murder hinged on questions about what happened the day of the killing. These facts were known to prosecutors,who still hoped the jury would find Staudenmaier guilty, said Emerson.

“We were disappointed in the outcome. I will respect the jury’s decisions on the case. Unfortunately, I can’t get inside their heads, so to speak. I can’t tell you why some of them felt there wasn’t enough for murder,” said Emerson. “But going into the case, we certainly knew that murder was a challenge in the case.”

What happened on Sept. 04, 2021

Court documents show that Holland and his cousin, Devin Benjamin, were in the parking lot of the Oakdale Skatepark at about 8 p.m.

Holland-Martin was told by Benjamin that he and her son had gone to Knights Ferry that day and that when they got back into Oakdale, they wanted to celebrate the Labor Day weekend. They went to a bar but couldn’t get in because Benjamin didn’t have his ID on him.

The pair went back to Holland’s car to charge Benjamin’s dead cell phone because “he had a picture of the ID on his phone,” Holland-Martin said.

Holland and Benjamin were leaning against the trunk of Holland’s white Ford Mustang while the phone was charging. Staudenmaier and Oakdale resident Lindsey Bench walked up and said something inaudible but seemingly aggressive, according to Benjamin’s story.

The Oakdale Police Department interviewed Benjamin, who said Staudenmaier walked up to the pair and said, “What’s up with you guys?” and said something to the effect of, “Y’all were talking [expletive] last time,” according to OPD’s search warrant for Staudenmaier.

Holland-Martin said the confrontation occurred because Staudenmaier thought her son was someone else. Emerson said a previous history between the two man could not be established nor disputed.

Benjamin told police that he did not know who Staudenmaier was. In response to Staudenmaier’s comments, Holland said, “Your [expletive] is ugly and you are, too.”

Staudenmaier replied, “You can’t be talking like that,” Benjamin said.

Court documents indicate that Staudenmaier was then handed a knife by Bench. Benjamin’s testimony to police said he thought Staudenmaier had punched Holland. But this was actually when Staudenmaier stabbed him.

Staudenmaier claimed in court the act was done in self-defense, an argument that helped his case split the jury.

“There was a self-defense claim, reported by the defense… we had a situation where there was one stab wound that led to the unfortunate death of the victim,” said Emerson, who elaborated by saying there were “witness recollection issues in terms of what happened.”

“That’s why ultimately, we did talk to the family about a manslaughter plea agreement that they weren’t agreeable to,” he said.

Holland-Martin disputes Staudenmaier’s self-defense claim. The defense argued that Holland punched Staudenmaier with his right hand, but she said that would have been impossible because her son was left-handed. “My son couldn’t tie his shoe or brush his hair or do anything with his right hand, and for Scott Staudenmaier to say that it was a right-handed punch is inaccurate,” she said. “I feel like that would’ve made the whole case.”

Who was Nathaniel Holland?

A charismatic, funny and amazing person — that’s who was fatally stabbed on that Labor Day weekend, Holland-Martin said.

Holland, a Modesto native, was known as Nate to his friends and “Bubba” to his family. His killer’s sentence is not justice for a son who always was a protector, helpful to others and made people belly-laugh, Holland-Martin said.

“When he would walk into a room and he would smile, everybody just had to stop and look because he was beautiful, just a beautiful kid,” she said.

Holland was the eldest of four siblings, an athlete and outdoorsman. He was the type of person to hold open doors and unload groceries for others, Holland-Martin said. If he saw someone on the side of the road, he’d ask his mom to pull over so he could help.

“He would tinker and act like he knew what he was doing, but it made him feel good,” Holland-Martin said.

She received a “frantic” phone call from her sister-in-law around 8 p.m. Sept. 4, 2021, saying Holland had been stabbed and Benjamin, who was with him during the incident, didn’t know if he was going to live.

Holland-Martin immediately went to the location and while on her way saw an ambulance “flying down the road.” She knew her son was in it, so she chased the ambulance from Oakdale to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto.

“I got pulled over because I was driving so fast,” she said. “I guess the ambulance had called the cops, not knowing who I was.”

After getting to the hospital and waiting for a while, Holland-Martin was called to a room, where a doctor told her they’d done everything they could but her son’s heart wouldn’t hold on anymore.

Holland was pronounced dead at the hospital.