Craig Holladay had a sit-down conversation with his son about drugs. He thought he made some headway when it came to using drugs.

Holladay said his son Layton Holladay had a battle with addiction, WRAL reported.

Layton, 17, talked with his dad about getting back into the life he had been missing.

But Wednesday, the hope came to an end.

>> Read more trending news

“His alarm went off at 5:30 this morning and kept beeping and getting louder and louder, where it woke me up,” Holladay said.

Holladay said his son died sometime overnight from a mixture of drugs, WRAL reported.

He said his son went down the path of addiction quickly.

“This is short in terms of how long people typically deal with this. It’s only been since December, a year ago,” Holladay told WRAL. “So, we’re talking 14 months that he started. He started with vaping and then it became marijuana and then it became Xanax.”

Holladay believes that his son could send a message to his friends and families, he’d first tell them he loved them, but there would be a deeper message.

"I think he would tell them, 'Be scared of drugs. Be scared,'" Holladay told WRAL.

About the Author

Featured

Public Service Commission candidate Peter Hubbard gets a hug from Brionté McCorkle, executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters, during an election-night party in Southwest Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.  (Ben Gray for the AJC)

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC