I Just Killed My Dad

What Is the Series About?

I Just Killed My Dad is a three-part Netflix documentary series directed by Skye Borgman and released on August 9, 2022. The series examines one of Louisiana's most talked-about criminal cases of recent years: the 2019 shooting of Burt Templet by his teenage son Anthony in their Baton Rouge home. Rather than focusing solely on the act of killing, the series sets out to answer the harder question of why, by tracing Anthony's life, his father's behavior, and the legal journey that followed. Content warnings issued at the time of release flag the series for depictions of child abuse, domestic abuse, and strong language.

The Case

On the evening of June 3, 2019, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, seventeen-year-old Anthony Templet shot his father, 53-year-old Burt Templet, inside the family home. Immediately after the shooting, Anthony called 911 and said he had just killed his dad. Burt Templet was rushed to hospital but died from his injuries three days later.

Anthony was arrested and initially charged with second-degree murder. From the outset, he maintained that he had acted in self-defense, and he alleged that Burt had subjected him to years of abuse and neglect. According to coverage of the case, Anthony described being kept isolated and controlled throughout his childhood, painting a picture of a home life that investigators and documentary viewers found deeply troubling.

The case moved slowly through the Louisiana courts. Prosecutors at the East Baton Rouge District Attorney's office ultimately weighed the self-defense claim and the abuse history against the severity of the original charge. In March 2021, Anthony Templet entered a no-contest plea to negligent homicide, a dramatically reduced charge compared to the original second-degree murder indictment. He was sentenced to five years of supervised probation, with credit for time already served, and no prison time was ordered. The outcome drew significant public debate about self-defense law, the treatment of abuse victims within the criminal justice system, and how courts weigh the circumstances of minors accused of violent crimes.

Production

The series was directed by Skye Borgman, an experienced documentary filmmaker whose work tends toward intimate, subject-led storytelling. Borgman was granted access to Anthony Templet himself, as well as to legal figures involved in the case, allowing the series to present multiple perspectives on both the killing and the court process that followed.

KLFY reported that the production brought renewed scrutiny to Louisiana's handling of abuse-related self-defense cases. The three episodes move through the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the investigation and charging decisions, the abuse allegations, and ultimately the plea resolution, structured to build the audience's understanding of the context before the legal outcome is revealed.

Reception

Critical response to I Just Killed My Dad was broadly positive, with reviewers praising the series for its restraint and empathy. The Chicago Sun-Times described the show as skillfully made, noting that it presents Anthony as a young man trying to explain himself amid serious abuse allegations rather than simply as a perpetrator to be judged. Firstpost called it a smart and surprisingly empathetic true-crime story, placing it among the stronger entries in Netflix's true-crime catalog for its focus on the why rather than the shock of the crime itself.

The series sparked widespread discussion online and in media about the intersection of abuse, self-defense, and juvenile criminal responsibility. Critics and viewers alike debated whether Anthony's sentence was just, whether the system had failed him earlier in his life, and what the case reveals about how American courts handle teenagers who kill in circumstances of alleged long-term abuse. An IMDb rating could not be independently verified at the time of publication.

The Case Today

Following his March 2021 no-contest plea, Anthony Templet was placed on five years of supervised probation. As of the series' release in August 2022, he was reported to still be living in Louisiana, working to rebuild a life that by his own account in the documentary had been profoundly disrupted by years of isolation under his father's control. No verified updates to his legal status beyond the terms of his probation sentence have been reported in the cited sources. The case remains a reference point in discussions about how the criminal justice system responds when victims of alleged abuse become perpetrators of violence.