A photo provided by the Greene County Sheriff’s Department shows Derrick Dearman, a suspect in the Saturday massacre of five adults in Citronelle Ala. Dearman, of Leakesville, Mississippi, will be charged with six counts of capital murder, Mobile County sheriff’s spokeswoman Lori Myles said Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. (George County Sheriff’s Department via AP)CITRONELLE, Ala. – A man accused of slaying five people at an Alabama home brought an ax to attack his victims, striking one who had been sleeping in a reclining chair, and also used guns he took from the house to shoot them, an Alabama sheriff said Tuesday.
Derrick Dearman entered the house in Citronelle before dawn Saturday, Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran told The Associated Press.
“They were down for the night sleeping, and he had enough familiarity with the house when he entered – I guess you could say in a rage – and he’s disabling people as he’s in there,” Cochran said. “He was able to overpower them before they were able to protect themselves.”
An ax and a gun were used in the killings of each of the five adult victims, police allege in criminal complaints filed Tuesday in Mobile County District Court.
On Monday, as Dearman was led to jail in shackles, he professed his love for the estranged girlfriend whose family and friends were massacred and blamed the killings on drugs.