Alabama: Derrick Dearman found guilty in 5 Citronelle murders, jury recommends execution

Derrick Dearman, the man charged with killing 5 people, 1 of whom was a pregnant women, and kidnapping his estranged girlfriend and an unrelated infant, has been found guilty of 10 counts of capital murder, according to the Mobile County District Attorney's Office.

The jury recommended the death penalty, according to the DA's office.

Dearman was charged with 6 counts of capital murder and 2 of kidnapping, and entered an initial plea of not guilty on Aug. 31, 2016.

In March 2017, a grand jury indicted him on multiple counts of capital murder, both for murders committed during a burglary and a murder involving multiple victims.

Dearman pleaded not guilty to the charges in May 2017.

The bodies of 5 adults were found in an isolated home on a dirt road west of the Citronelle on Aug. 20, 2016.

Law enforcement officials allege Dearman entered the home in the early hours of the morning; attacked the sleeping residents using an axe and at least 1 firearm.

Police say he killed 5 adults including a pregnant woman; and kidnapped his estranged girlfriend and an unrelated infant, eventually freeing them after he took them to a relative's home in Mississippi.

Questions about Dearman's competency to stand trial arose and a change in council happened last fall, AL.com journalist Lawrence Specker reported.

Dearman objected to any mental evaluation, according to court filings from earlier this year.

Records also say that "At the present time, Mr. Dearman has not indicated that he will introduce evidence of this nature at trial and has not raised the issue of 'not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect,' his competency to stand trial or any claims regarding his intelligent quotient."

Source: al.com, Anna Beahm, September 21, 2018

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