Additional Coverage:
- Alabama executes man who killed five, including pregnant woman, and welcomed his own death sentence (newsbreak.com)
Alabama has executed Derrick Dearman, a 36-year-old death row inmate. Dearman was convicted of murdering five people, including a pregnant woman, in 2016.
Dearman was sentenced to death in 2018 and terminated his appeal attorneys earlier this year. He had written letters requesting his death sentence be carried out, citing the need for justice for the victims and their families.
Dearman’s execution took place on June 29th at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, where the state executes its death row inmates.
He died by lethal injection at 6:14 p.m. CT.
The execution was controversial, with Dearman’s attorneys arguing that he suffered from serious mental illness. However, Attorney General Steve Marshall stated that the execution was appropriate and that Dearman had shown no mercy to his victims.
Bryant Henry Randall, the father of one of the victims, expressed his grief and anger at the execution. Robert Ford Brown, the father of another victim, said he forgave Dearman but called the crime the worst ever committed in Mobile County.
Dearman’s remains will be released to the Escambia County Coroner for a postmortem examination.