Survivors of five family members murdered in Alabama to attend the execution

Those who witnessed Derrick Dearman’s execution say they feel no hatred for him and that they left matters to God. However, one of the victim’s daughters says it will be difficult to relive the trauma.

Two of death row inmate Derrick Dearman’s victims were a man and a woman who had a three-month-old baby, two were high school students who were pregnant with their first child, and another was a caring brother. They were slaughtered in the dark of night in an Alabama home, all because they were relatives of Dearman’s girlfriend.

Dearman was armed with an ax and two guns when he burst into a home in Citronelle on August 20, 2016, killing five people related by blood or marriage to his then-girlfriend Laneta Lester.

During the drug-fueled rampage, Dearman killed: Lester’s brother, Joseph Turner; Turner’s wife Shannon Randall; Randall’s brother Robert Brown; and Randall’s niece Chelsea Reed, Reed’s husband Justin, and the couple’s unborn baby. He also kidnapped Lester and Randall’s baby, who survived the ordeal.

“Nothing like this has ever happened in Citronelle, especially not to this magnitude,” Ashley Rich, a former Mobile County prosecutor who still works cases, told USA TODAY. “It shocked and shocked the entire city.”

As Dearman’s execution approaches Thursday, USA TODAY takes a look at who the murdered family was and how the tragic crime sent shockwaves through the small town of Citronelle, just outside Mobile.

‘Safe haven’ destroyed in the dead of night

Lester and Dearman had an on-and-off relationship, described in court records as “volatile.”

‘He always wanted power and control over Laneta. And when he couldn’t have it anymore…he said he was going to take it,” Rich said.

Dearman went to the house, but Lester told him he had to leave. He returned later that evening and began the killing spree.

“I think about this case all the time. It’s the most brutal thing I’ve ever seen,” Rich said. “With the deaths of so many people and the fact that they were all still alive and fighting for their lives with gruesome marks all over their bodies.”

Victims described as ‘wonderful people’

Justin and Chelsea Reed were high school sweethearts who were outspoken, spontaneous and fun, and all about video games and each other, Justin Reed’s cousin Wes Risher told AL.com in a 2016 interview.

“If he was right, or if he was wrong, she had his back… He showed a love for Chelsea that I have never seen in my 32 years,” Risher said. “It was very heartwarming. I just enjoyed being around them.”

The couple were also “super excited” to welcome their first child, who they planned to name Aiden, and were eager to be back home in Citronelle after a short stint in California.

He said Reed was more “like a brother” to him.

“We want them to be remembered for who they were and the great people they were… not for what happened to them,” he told AL.com.

The kidnapped girlfriend was the “seventh victim,” the prosecutor says

As Dearman admitted to Greene County officers, Lester was at Citronelle Police Headquarters making a report of his own. She and Randall’s baby escaped from Dearman while he was discussing matters with his father.

Both events occurred “simultaneously,” according to Rich. And no one knew the family had been murdered until Lester showed up at the police station.

“It turned out that they were both at different police stations at the same time, talking about this murder. She had the baby and was completely traumatized and in shock,” Rich said. “I’ve always said that Laneta is the seventh victim because she was the victim of the kidnapping but had to witness everything she saw. Her life is over as she knows it.

News of the murders “spread quickly” through the small town and family members were already at the house when Rich arrived later that evening.

“They were just devastated,” Rich said. “It was just heartbreaking when they found out how they had died and how much they had suffered.”

Many of the victim’s relatives were present at the execution

Rich will not attend Dearman’s execution Thursday because “so many family members” plan to attend, she said. According to Rich, the execution may bring “some kind of justice” to these families, but “there will never be any closure.”

Bryant Randall, the father of Chelsea Reed and the brother of Shannon Randall and Robert Brown, told WALA-TV last month that he has “no hate for Derrick.”

“Because one day we’re all going to be judged,” Bryant Randall told the affiliate. ‘I’m not condemning him to hell. That’s not my place. But I hope he can go in peace.”

Shannon Randall’s daughter Brooklyn echoed a similar sentiment about Dearman, saying she believes he has shown “genuine remorse” for the lives he took. (Dearman has said he is guilty and deserves the death penalty.)

“It’s very emotional for me and for my family because it’s like ripping off a band-aid. So we got to relive that moment,” Randall told the affiliate. She was 19 when her mother was murdered.

Robert Brown’s father, Robert F. Brown Sr., plans to attend Thursday’s execution.

“I had so much more to give my son,” he told WPMI-TV in late September. “And it was all taken away from me.”

He explained that he struggled with anger and violent thoughts toward Dearman, but ultimately, “God said, ‘No, leave it in my hands.'” Now he says he’s not sure how he’ll feel when Dearman takes his last breath blows out.

“Because it’s sad for anyone to lose their life,” he said. “I’m going to feel sorry for him.”

Survivors of five family members murdered in Alabama to attend the execution

Those who witnessed Derrick Dearman’s execution say they feel no hatred for him and that they left matters to God. However, one of the victim’s daughters says it will be difficult to relive the trauma.

‘Safe haven’ destroyed in the dead of night

Victims described as ‘wonderful people’

The kidnapped girlfriend was the “seventh victim,” the prosecutor says

Many of the victim’s relatives were present at the execution

By Sheisoe

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Survivors of five family members murdered in Alabama to attend the execution

Those who witnessed Derrick Dearman’s execution say they feel no hatred for him and that they left matters to God. However, one of the victim’s daughters says it will be difficult to relive the trauma.

‘Safe haven’ destroyed in the dead of night

Victims described as ‘wonderful people’

The kidnapped girlfriend was the “seventh victim,” the prosecutor says

Many of the victim’s relatives were present at the execution

By Sheisoe

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