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Alabama Man Executed After Admitting to 2016 Ax and Gun Rampage

On Thursday, Alabama executed Derrick Dearman, a man who confessed to murdering five individuals during a violent incident fueled by drugs in 2016. This execution took place at Holman prison, located in southern Alabama, where Dearman was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m.

Dearman, 36, had pleaded guilty to the brutal acts, which escalated after he broke into the residence of his estranged girlfriend. Earlier this year, he decided to abandon his legal appeals. “I am guilty,” he expressed in a letter to a judge in April, asserting that continuing the legal process would be unfair to the victims and their families who were seeking closure.

In an audio message shared with The Associated Press shortly before his execution, Dearman stated, “I am willingly giving all that I can possibly give to try and repay a small portion of my debt to society for all the terrible things I’ve done.” He hoped that the focus would shift from himself to the healing of those he had harmed.

Alabama’s Attorney General, Steve Marshall, remarked on the execution, citing it as necessary for justice and providing finality for the victims’ families. He emphasized, “As a jury of his peers unanimously agreed, the gruesome facts of this case merited the ultimate punishment,” outlining the brutality of Dearman’s actions, where he used both an axe and a gun against his victims.

Dearman’s execution was part of a double execution scheduled on the same day in the U.S. His case drew considerable attention as it was one of the first executions linked to a conviction for a murder charge associated with shaken baby syndrome, although a judge subsequently delayed the execution of Robert Roberson, whose case was set to follow Dearman’s.

This execution marked Alabama’s fifth of 2024, with varying methods used across the state’s recent executions, including two conducted by nitrogen gas and two by lethal injection, which is the preferred method in the state.

The tragic events of August 20, 2016, unfolded near Citronelle, approximately 30 miles north of Mobile. Victims included Shannon Melissa Randall (35), Joseph Adam Turner (26), Robert Lee Brown (26), Justin Kaleb Reed (23), and the pregnant Chelsea Marie Reed (22). Chelsea was married to Justin, and at the time of the attack, they were in the company of Turner, who was Randall’s partner, as well as Brown, Randall’s brother.

Notably, Chelsea Reed was pregnant at the time of the attack, and the couple’s baby remained unharmed during the brutal incident. Dearman’s girlfriend survived the ordeal after she was forced to flee with him to Mississippi.

In a preceding timeline, Dearman had displayed abusive behavior towards his girlfriend, prompting her brother to relocate her to another residence for safety. The fateful night of the murders, Dearman repeatedly tried to gain entry into the home, eventually succeeding after 3 a.m. while the victims were asleep, resulting in the horrific sequence of events.

Following the rampage, Dearman turned himself in after his father requested he surrender to law enforcement. Upon his arrest, he attributed his actions to drug use, including methamphetamine, claiming that substances at the time distorted his perception of reality.

Initially pleading not guilty, Dearman later changed his plea after dismissing his legal counsel. Due to the nature of the capital murder charge, a jury was required to assess the evidence presented in court. They ultimately found him guilty, leading to a unanimous recommendation for the death penalty.

Before relinquishing his appeal, Dearman’s legal team argued that his trial attorneys failed to adequately present evidence of his mental health issues, including a diagnosis of bipolar disorder with psychotic features. After being sentenced to death in 2018, Dearman spent several years on death row.

In the final hours before his execution, Dearman had a chance to visit with family, including his sons and father, and requested a final meal of a seafood platter from a local eatery.

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