Alabama executed Derrick Dearman, 36, who was convicted of massacring five family members of his girlfriend in a drug-fueled rampage with an ax and gun in 2016. Dearman had been on death row since 2018 but dropped his appeals and requested his execution to bring justice to the victims and their families. He was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m. CT on Thursday, becoming the fifth inmate executed in Alabama this year.
Family member Bryant Randall, whose daughter was among the victims, expressed mixed feelings about the execution, hoping it would bring closure but also feeling Dearman was getting an easy way out. He emphasized the importance of family to his loved ones and wanted people to remember them before the tragic event.
The two people killed were a young married couple with a 3-month-old baby, high school sweethearts expecting their first child, and a caring brother. Randall believes justice is being served to the extent of the country’s laws but trusts that true justice will come from a higher power.
Dearman’s conviction was based on evidence of the brutal murders he committed in the victims’ home after being asked to leave. He also kidnapped his girlfriend and the infant child after the killings, later surrendering to authorities while the girlfriend managed to escape. Dearman’s execution took place on the same day Texas planned to execute another inmate, amid questions of wrongful conviction.
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