Alabama executes death row inmate who pleaded guilty to killing five people in 2016

Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The state of Alabama executed death row inmate Derrick Dearman by lethal injection Thursday evening for the brutal axe killings of five people in 2016.

The execution began at 6 p.m. at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala.

Dearman, strapped to a gurney, was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m., the state's Department of Corrections told UPI in a statement.

He had twitched slightly during the procedure, according to media witnesses, but Alabama Prison Commissioner John Hamm assured reporters during a press conference that it was not a sign of consciousness.

Prior to his execution, his spiritual advisor Rev. Jeff Hood was escorted from the chamber, which Hamm explained was at Dearman's request.

Asked why, Hamm said he didn't know.

He saw six visitors over Thursday during which he ate breakfast, lunch and snacks.

His final meal was a seafood platter.

He received six visitors on Thursday and three on Wednesday when he also took five phone calls.

At 5:55 p.m., Dearman made his final statement: "To the victims' family, forgive me. This is not for me, this is for you," local AL.com reported. "I've taken so much... to my family, y'all already know I love you."

Dearman was put to death after dropping his appeals last year.

A jury had unanimously recommended he be put to death after he pleaded guilty to the murder of five people.

According to the Office of Alabama Attorney General Steven Marshall , Dearman killed the family of his longtime partner, Laneta Lester, in the early hours of Aug. 20, 2016.

That night, Lester stayed at the residence of her brother, Joseph Adam Turner, and his wife, Shannon Randall, in Citronelle, on the northern border of Mobile County.

Dearman, who was told he could not stay there, returned to the residence armed with an axe he took from the front yard, and broke into the house through two locked sliding glass doors.

First, he struck Robert Lee Brown, asleep in a recliner, in the head multiple times with the axe.

Then, he bludgeoned to death Turner and Randall, who were in a bedroom with their three-month-old infant.

Chelsea and Justin Reed , occupying another bedroom in the residence, were his next victims.

He struck Chelsea Reed with the axe and then turned to Justin Reed, who was also hit multiple times with the axe as they fought over Justin Reed's firearm, which Dearman used to shoot both Chelsea and Justin Reed as they clung to life and then Randall in the back of the head, as the infant lay nearby.

Dearman then shot Brown in the living room before stealing Randall's vehicle and fleeing with the infant and Lester, who was left unharmed during the ordeal.

The next day, he surrendered to the authorities.

Bryant Henry Randall, the father of Chelsea Reed and brother to both Shannon Randall and Brown, said in a statement read by Hamm following the execution that what bothers him most is that he never got to say goodbye.

"A goodbye seems like an easy word but when it's been taken from you to express your parting, it seems sad as there is no closure to this nightmare when you can't say it, especially to loved ones," he said.

"But today, goodbye will be easy for me because we have all heard the horrific things Derek Dearman did to all the innocent individuals that you murdered. Whether it was drugs or just pure hate and the devil in his heart, Dearman will get a final goodbye whereas I'm still waiting on mine."

Robert Brown , the father of Robert Lee Brown, spoke to the reporters during the brief press conference following the execution. He said this won't bring his son back but may it stand as a warning to others.

"Let this be a warning to all of you. You ain't serving the lord, you serve the devil; this is what you get for evil in your life," he said.

Dearman is the fifth person in Alabama and the 20th person in the United States to be executed this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center .