An Alabama man who brutally murdered five people with an axe and a firearm, including a pregnant woman, is officially scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in October.
In August of 2016, Derrick Dearman, 35, killed Joseph Adam Turner, Robert Lee Brown, Chelsea Marie Reed, Justin Kaleb Reed, and Shannon Melissa Randall while they slept in a Mobile County home near Citronelle. He claimed he was under the influence of methamphetamine when the killings occurred.
At the time of the murders, Dearman was dating Laneta Lester. The relationship, according to many, was characterized by abuse. After an argument between the two took place, Lester was picked up and taken to safety at a family member’s residence. Dearman later showed up at the house where Lester was hiding, trying to gain entry but was denied access multiple times. He returned to the house at 3 a.m., broke in, and committed the heinous murders.
Governor Kay Ivey announced Tuesday that Dearman is now scheduled to be executed by lethal injection sometime between 12 a.m. on October 17 and 6 a.m. on October 18.
Earlier this year, Dearman fired his attorneys and stopped all appeals of his conviction and death sentence. He has openly admitted his guilt and accepted the punishment handed down by the court.
Dearman, who initially pleaded not guilty after turning himself in, was placed on death row in 2018 and will be the fifth person to be executed in Alabama this year.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten
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