CITRONELLE, Ala. — In what is perhaps the grisliest murder case of its kind since the yet-to-be-solved Pike County, Ohio, murders, a man has reportedly confessed to the slayings of five people, including a pregnant woman, in Citronelle, Alabama.
Horrible news tonight... My heart aches for this family :( We brought you the breaking news in our 9 p.m. newscast and...
Posted by Devan Coffaro - FOX 10 on Saturday, August 20, 2016
According to WAFF, Derrick Dearman, 27, turned himself in to police Saturday in Greene County, Mississippi. He is being held in George County, Mississippi, until he is extradited to Mobile County, Alabama, where he faces six counts of capital murder.
How the victims in the Citronelle murders were related
— WAFF 48 (@waff48) August 22, 2016
READ: https://t.co/Pg2E6sG9VT pic.twitter.com/Tzsq1uqgfR
>> Click here to see the victims' photos
WAFF reports that the victims are, clockwise from left, Chelsea Marie Reed, 22; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; Shannon Melissa Randall, 35; and Robert Lee Brown, 26.
Chelsea Reed was five months pregnant.
Only a woman and the 3-month-old baby of Randall and Turner survived. That woman has been identified as 24-year-old Laneta Lester, who had been hiding at the home from Dearman, her boyfriend.
According to AL.com, Lester "fled to a relative's house Friday afternoon to escape Dearman, who she said was abusive."
Dearman reportedly showed up at the house at 1 a.m. Saturday, and police were called to the scene. Someone inside the house said Dearman was trespassing. Dearman was out of sight by the time police arrived.
According to police, Dearman allegedly returned to the house later and killed the five victims as they slept using multiple weapons. Authorities said he then forced Lester and the 3-month-old baby into his car, drove to his father’s house in Mississippi, released the woman and the child and then turned himself in at the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
"There's a bit of gruesomeness to every murder scene," Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said Saturday, according to the Clarion-Ledger. "But when you have five people that are dead, it speaks for itself."
>> Read a press release from the Mobile County Sheriff's Office
Here is the latest Press Release on the Citronelle Homicides pic.twitter.com/khoBGSnCL4
— Mobile Sheriff (@team_sheriff) August 21, 2016
– The Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
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