UPDATE (6:40 p.m.): Alabama Prison Commissioner John Hamm shared details about the execution during a press conference. WKRG News 5 streamed the press conference live — which the video in the player above.
UPDATE (6:23 p.m.): Derrick Dearman has been executed. His time of death was 6:14 p.m.
“Six lives, including an unborn baby, were gruesomely taken by Mr. Dearman in 2016,” Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement. “In using an axe and then a gun, he clearly made the decision to kill. Then he made the clear decision to flee to his hometown in Mississippi.
“And now, he himself has clearly stated his guilt and asked to move forward with his death sentence. The state has obliged, and justice has been served. I pray for the loved ones of all these victims whose lives were taken far too soon.”
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ATMORE, Ala. ( WKRG ) — Derrick Dearman’s spiritual adviser said the killer was “excited to get to heaven,” but does a murderer go to heaven?
“You can’t put all your focus and attention on heaven when you’ve created so much hell down here,” Rev. Jeff Hood, Dearman’s spiritual adviser, said.
Morgan Wallen scheduled to ‘take over’ Hangout Music Festival Dearman, 35, killed five people at a small house on Jim Platt Road in Citronelle on Aug. 20, 2016. The house belonged to his then-girlfriend’s brother. Dearman’s girlfriend, Laneta Lester, had escaped to the house to get a break from what has been described as a “volatile” relationship with Dearman. The move to get away from Dearman infuriated him.
On Aug. 19, 2016, seven people were staying at Lester’s brother’s home when Dearman showed up several times.
The last time a meth-fueled Dearman showed up at the home, around 3 a.m. on Aug. 20, he found an ax in a tree. Dearman broke into the home through a sliding glass door and shot all five people inside before taking an ax to them.
The victims were identified as Shannon Randall, Joseph Turner, Robert Brown, Chelse Reed, Justin Reed, and the Reeds’ unborn baby. All of them were dead when police arrived.
Atmore veteran arrested after officers find homemade explosives at home “I don’t think that, you know, people normally kill five people just for the fun of it,” Hood said. “I think that ultimately with him, yes, there was tremendous evil present.”
Dearman kidnapped Lester and the 3-month-old baby of Randall and Turner before taking them to his sister’s home in Greene County. Dearman took the two survivors to his father’s house, where Lester found an opportunity to escape and get her and the baby to the Citronelle Police Department.
Dearman’s father took him to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, where he first attempted to turn himself in for not paying child support, but when deputies told him there was no warrant out for his arrest, his father talked him into confessing.
Since his trial, Dearman advocated for his execution by lethal injection to be carried out as soon as possible, going as far as to fire his attorneys.
Fairhope police officer gets his family out of burning house fire in Spanish Fort “He ultimately, almost in a de facto sense, terminated us,” Jason Darley, one of Dearman’s first attorneys, said. “The judge kept us in as kind of like a shadow or an advisory council.”
Dearman had been on death row at Holeman Correctional Facility in Atmore since 2018. Dearman’s short time on death row was largely due to his decision to waive all of his appeals.
“I think the reason Derrick wants to die is because he can’t live with himself,” Hood said, referring to a term he called “terminal remorse.”
In April, Dearman wrote letters to top State officials, asking for the execution to be carried out.
Mobile DA Keith Blackwood talks about resources for domestic violence survivors “Regardless of what you call it, Derrick Dearman has enlisted the State of Alabama to make it happen,” Hood said. “It would be a lot more painful for him to have to sit in a cell for the rest of his life and think about those five bodies all day in and day out, over and over and over again.”
Five months later, Gov. Kay Ivey announced a 30-hour execution window from midnight on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, to 6 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024.
“Derrick will probably be the first one [of my clients] that will, you know, be put to death,” Darley said. “Maybe the past will die with him is what his mentality is.”
The crime scene has changed quite a bit since the night of the murders. Less than a month after the crime, the house burned down, leaving nothing but a pile of rubble. Neighbors said the house had become somewhat of a tourist attraction for people.
‘Boo at the Zoo’ returns to Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo However, not much has changed with Dearman, according to Hood.
“Derrick Dearman is one of the most hollow people I have ever met,” Hood said. “Derrick is going to be complicated. No doubt about it. He’s got more bodies than anyone I’ve ever worked with. He’s got a willingness, a desire, to be executed.”
Hood said Dearman grew up in an unstable environment surrounded by drugs. His mental state, Hood said, was always unpredictable.
According to Hood, Dearman has been open about recent drug use from behind bars.
Pensacola International Airport sees record-breaking passenger traffic “And since he has been on death row, he has never stopped using drugs,” Hood said. “He used drugs as recently as a week ago, a couple of days ago.”
WKRG did reach out to the Alabama Department of Correction over any concerns that recent drug use might botch a lethal injection. ALDOC has not responded.
Meanwhile, Hood said Dearman was exactly where he wanted to be at the end of his life: in the driver’s seat.
“Derek has made all of the decisions,” Hood said. “Derek has made the decision as to when this is going to happen. He’s going to make the decision about what he’s going to say, what he’s going to eat.”
Making a fall centerpiece with Bellingrath Gardens Dearman will be the fourth person Alabama has executed in 2024, the 20 th in the nation. Since 1976, Dearman is the 77th to be executed in Alabama.
“I am literally giving all I can possibly give to try and repay a small portion of debt to society for all the terrible things I’ve done. From this point forward, I hope that the focus would not be on me, but rather the healing of all the people that I have hurt,” Dearman said in his final public statement before the statement he will make in the death chamber.
WKRG has reached out to victims’ families but has not heard back.
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