In a somber and solemn moment, the state of Alabama has carried out the execution of Derrick Dearman, a man who admitted to a brutal, drug-fueled rampage that claimed the lives of five members of his estranged girlfriend’s family.
At 6:14 pm on Thursday, the Holman Correctional Facility in southern Alabama pronounced Dearman, 36, dead. His execution, which he had actively sought, came after he dropped his appeals and asked the state to proceed with the lethal injection.
“I am guilty,” Dearman wrote in an April letter to a judge, acknowledging the tremendous pain and anguish his actions had caused. “It’s not fair to the victims or their families to keep prolonging the justice that they so rightly deserve.”
The events that led to Dearman’s execution were as tragic as they were senseless. On August 20, 2016, he broke into the home where his estranged girlfriend had taken refuge, armed with an ax and a gun. In the early hours of the morning, he proceeded to systematically attack and kill five of his victims’ family members, including a pregnant woman.
“Dearman viciously struck his victims with an axe, leaving them conscious and suffering for some time before he executed each at close range,” said Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. “Dearman showed no pity and no mercy.”
Among those who lost their lives that fateful night were Shannon Melissa Randall, 35, and her husband Joseph Adam Turner, 26, who were asleep with their infant son when the attack began. Also killed were Robert Lee Brown, 26, Justin Kaleb Reed, 23, and Chelsea Marie Reed, 22, who was five months pregnant.
Bryant Henry Randall, Chelsea Reed’s father, eloquently expressed the devastating impact of Dearman’s actions in a heartbreaking statement that the Alabama prison commissioner read.
“I so long for a final goodbye to my daughter, and I would have loved to meet my grandchild,” Randall wrote. “Your senseless act stripped me in many ways of happiness and the bond of family.”
The lethal injection execution was a somber and emotionally charged affair. “Forgive me,” Dearman said to the victims’ families as he strapped himself to the gurney. This is not for me. This is for you. I’ve taken so much.”
His final words to his own family were equally poignant: “Y’all already know I love y’all.”
Five media representatives and five witnesses, including Dearman’s father, sister, and a family friend, witnessed the execution. As the lethal drugs began to flow, Dearman’s father, sitting in the viewing room, could be heard sobbing and repeatedly calling out his son’s name.
“This doesn’t bring anything back,” said Robert Brown, the father of victim Robert Lee Brown. “I can’t get my son back or any of them back.”
Dearman’s history of mental illness, including bipolar disorder with psychotic features, exacerbates the tragedy of his crimes. Prior to dropping his appeals, his lawyers had argued that his trial counsel failed to adequately demonstrate the extent of his mental health issues and his “lack of competency to plead guilty.”
“Dearman suffered from lifelong and severe mental illness,” the Equal Justice Initiative, which had represented him in the appeals process, stated on its website. Dearman’s execution occurred despite evidence of his serious mental illness.
As the state of Alabama grapples with the aftermath of this harrowing case, the execution of Derrick Dearman serves as a somber reminder of the fragility of the human condition and the profound consequences of untreated mental illness. While the victims’ families may have found some semblance of closure in seeing their loved ones’ killer brought to justice, the pain and grief they continue to bear is a heavy burden that no one should have to endure.
In the end, this tragedy underscores the urgent need for greater mental health resources, improved support systems, and a criminal justice system that prioritizes compassion and rehabilitation alongside accountability. Only then can we hope to prevent such senseless acts of violence from ever occurring again.