On a tragic day in August 2016, the quiet community of Citronelle, Alabama, was shattered by a brutal act of violence that claimed the lives of five people, including 22-year-old Chelsea Marie Randall Reed. A white female, Reed was five months pregnant at the time of her death. The horrific events unfolded in the early morning hours of August 20th at a residence on Jim Platt Road.
The perpetrator, Derrick Ryan Dearman, forcibly entered the home where several people were sleeping.
In a methamphetamine-fueled rage, he attacked the occupants with an axe and a firearm. The victims of the massacre, in addition to Chelsea Reed, were her husband, 23-year-old Justin Kaleb Reed; 26-year-old Robert Lee Brown; 26-year-old Joseph Adam Turner; and 35-year-old Shannon Melissa Randall. Dearman's estranged girlfriend had sought refuge at the home to escape his abusive behavior. Earlier that morning, a 911 call was made from the residence to report Dearman trespassing, but he was gone by the time police arrived.
Following the murders, Dearman kidnapped his estranged girlfriend and a three-month-old infant from the home and fled to Mississippi. He later released them unharmed and turned himself in to the Greene County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi, where he confessed to the crimes.
Dearman was extradited to Alabama and charged with six counts of capital murder, one for each of the five victims and one for Chelsea Reed's unborn child. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to the charges and requested the death penalty. A jury unanimously recommended a death sentence, which the court imposed. After waiving his appeals, Derrick Dearman was executed by lethal injection on October 17, 2024.
