Alabama Set to Execute Convicted Ax Murderer Derrick Dearman in October, Marking State's Fifth Execution This Year

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Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced on Tuesday that Derrick Dearman, a 35-year-old convicted of a brutal ax murder that claimed the lives of five people, will be executed by lethal injection next month. Dearman, who committed the gruesome killings in Citronelle, Alabama, in 2016, will be the fifth prisoner to be put to death in the state this year.
Dearman was convicted for the horrific slaying of five friends and family members of his then-girlfriend, Laneta Lester, during a methamphetamine-fueled rampage. Among the victims was a pregnant woman, Chelsea Marie Reed, and her unborn child. The massacre took place in the early hours of August 20, 2016, after Dearman broke into a home in a remote area of Mobile County.
Earlier this year, Dearman dismissed his legal counsel and halted all appeals against his conviction and death sentence. In a phone interview from death row, Dearman stated, “I’ve decided to drop my appeals and have my sentence carried out… I was fairly tried and convicted. I agreed with the court’s decision. Whether I was in my right mind or not, innocent lives were lost and the crime was committed.”
Governor Ivey revealed that Dearman will be executed between midnight on October 17 and 6 a.m. on October 18. He opted for lethal injection over nitrogen hypoxia, a newly introduced and controversial execution method in Alabama.
Dearman, who had previously expressed reluctance to face execution, recently voiced frustration in a letter to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, accusing the state of delaying his death sentence. “I have done everything that is required to drop my appeals and have my sentence carried out... can you please respond to this letter to let me know what the hold up is??????” Dearman wrote. He added that the prolonged process was taking a toll on both him and his family.
The 2016 killings shocked the local community. Dearman, reportedly under the influence of drugs at the time, used an ax to murder the victims while they slept. After the massacre, he forced Lester and a 3-month-old child, who was unharmed, into a car and drove to his father's house in Mississippi, where he later surrendered to authorities.
The victims of the massacre were identified as Joseph Adam Turner, 26; Robert Lee Brown, 26; Chelsea Marie Reed, 22; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; and Shannon Melissa Randall, 35. Chelsea Reed was pregnant with her first child, and the 3-month-old boy was the first son of Turner and Randall.
Dearman was sentenced to death in 2018 and has been on death row since.
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