Authorities say the murderer, 27-year-old Derrick Dearman, turned himself in to the Green County Sheriff’s Office and is cooperating with investigators.
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After Mobile County Sheriff’s had confirmed they were investigating the case, Dearman was booked into Greene County Jail and held for questioning.
A sheriff’s captain says the suspect attacked them as they slept and then abducted his estranged girlfriend and an infant from the home.
A four-year-old child was found alive at the grisly murder scene in the city of Citronelle, about 30 miles north-west of Mobile.
According to the Mobile County District Attorney, Derrick Dearman has been charged with six counts of capital murder and 2 counts of kidnapping. Five counts stem from the killing of 5 adults ageed between 22 and 35.
The recent mass murder of five individuals, including one pregnant woman, in Alabama is a tragic example of what can happen when perpetrators of domestic violence remain unchecked.
Around 1:00am Saturday morning, police were called to the Citronelle home to report Dearman trespassing on their property, however, he left before officers arrived to the location.
Crime scene tape marks the home on Jim Platt Road near Citronelle, Ala., Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016, where authorities said five people were killed on Saturday. Dearman drove his hostages to his father’s home in MS, where he released them and then turned himself in.
Paul Burch, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said Dearman “is cooperating” with investigators. The suspect in the killing of multiple people a.
Lester and the infant were released and Lester went to the police; Dearman turned himself in to the sheriff’s office in Greene County, Mississippi.
One of Lester’s relatives lived at the home, and she had gone there Friday to get away from an abusive relationship with Dearman, authorities said.
A 28-year-old MS native with a lengthy criminal record and previous accusations of domestic violence has been accused of a mass murder in Citronelle, Alabama on August 20.
Around 1 a.m. Saturday, someone inside the residence called 911 and reported that Dearman was on the property, the statement said.
Laneta Lester, Dearman’s girlfriend, went to police after the murders.
“I woke up to him holding a knife to my throat in bed with my baby in the crib”, said Dearman, who said the two divorced in 2010.
The killings happened about 150 miles southwest of Rutledge, Alabama, another south Alabama town where six family members were found shot to death at their rural home on August 26, 2002.
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After the killings, he fled with his girlfriend and child. The girlfriend, who was 16 at the time, ended up testifying against Harris.
