Alabama death row inmate Derrick Dearman, 36, begs to be EXECUTED as he gives up appeal so the families of five people he massacred in 2016 can have 'justice'

An Alabama death row inmate, 36, has begged to be executed as he dropped his appeals to allow the families of the five people he massacred in 2016 to attain 'justice.'

Derrick Dearman, who was convicted with six counts of capital murder due to one victim being pregnant when killed, said he is ready to forego sentencing appeals.

'Now, it's time for the victims and their families to get the justice they rightly deserve to start the closure,' he said during a telephone interview with NBC News.

Speaking from the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, the inmate said he will write a letter to inform the families of the five victims about the decision. 

This announcement comes two months after the Alabama Supreme Court denied his sentence appeal application, thereby upholding the six murder convictions.

Derrick Dearman, an Alabama death row inmate, 36, has begged to be executed as he dropped his appeals to allow the families of the five people he massacred in 2016 to attain 'justice'

Derrick Dearman, who was convicted with six counts of capital murder due to one victim being pregnant when killed, said he is ready to forego sentence appeals. Pictured: the house in rural Alabama where the bodies of five victims were found 

'I have laid many nights thinking, what would I say to any of them if I ever had the chance, the opportunity to say something?' he said. 

'That's part of the reason I've made my decision to have my sentence carried out. Words don't have any weight in this situation. 

'The only thing I would say is that everyone that was hurt by the actions to forgive me, not for myself, but for them. That way, they will free their heart up to be able to truly heal.'

In October 2018, Dearman was convicted of murder by a jury who then unanimously recommended the death penalty. 

Dearman's attorneys from the Equal Justice Initiative filed the appeal, but Dearman said it's for the sake of his family. 

'They said, 'Derrick just give us a few years in this appeal process. We deserve that, it's our right as your family to fight for your life,' and I said, 'OK.' That was almost six years ago, and I feel like I've given them the fair chance.'

'I am guilty plain and simple, I turned myself in and I pled guilty,' said Dearman, who has opted for lethal injection. 

'Once I got moved over to county and spent a week down there, sleeping every day, my mind coming back to me a little bit more, little bit more, little bit more, I was just in shock. 

'I couldn't comprehend the magnitude of what had happened because those people were good people,' he added. 

In October 2018, Dearman was convicted of murder by a jury who then unanimously recommended the death penalty. Pictured: Dearman in 2016 

The victims were Shannon Melissa Randall, 35; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; and Robert Lee Brown, 26 and five-months pregnant Chelsea Marie Reed, 22

After the massacre, Dearman forced his estranged girlfriend and a three-month-old infant - the child of one of the murder victims - into a vehicle. The three drove to the Mississippi home of Dearman's father. Pictured: Lanera Lester, Dearman's then girlfriend 

'Drugs turned me into a very unpredictable, unstable and violent person,' he said. 'That's not who I am. The person that committed these crimes and the person who I truly am is two different people.' 

Dearman, who struggled with drug addiction since he was a teenager, was high on methamphetamine when he brutally killed five family members of his then-girlfriend Lanera Lester. 

After the massacre, Dearman forced his estranged girlfriend and a 3-month-old infant - the child of one of the murder victims - into a vehicle. The three drove to the Mississippi home of Dearman's father.

After they arrived at Dearman's father's house he released Lester and the infant and then turned himself in at the Mississippi sheriff's department.

The victims were Shannon Melissa Randall, 35; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; and Robert Lee Brown, 26 and five-months pregnant Chelsea Marie Reed, 22. 

The crime was of a magnitude rarely if ever seen in the corner of rural, southern Alabama, Mobile County sheriff's Capt. Paul Burch said.

The crime was of a magnitude rarely if ever seen in the corner of rural, southern Alabama, Mobile County sheriff's Capt. Paul Burch said. Pictured: Dearman in court in 2016 

The gruesome scene happened in Citronelle, which is located in the south-east part of Alabama, about 245 miles away from Birmingham

'It has touched a lot of people in the community,' said James Landers, a Citronelle city council member. 'It's just such an awful, awful tragedy.'

Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich told reporters that in her 20-year career as a prosecutor, she's never encountered a crime 'where there were five people who were brutally and viciously murdered, and that's what we have here.' 

Dearman was taken into custody after he walked into the sheriff's office in Greene County, Mississippi, about 20 miles west of Citronelle, Burch said. 

He was accompanied by his father when he showed up at the sheriff's department and surrendered, the Alabama sheriff's office said in a statement.

He initially pleaded not guilty to six counts of capital murder and two counts of kidnapping.  

“They knew that I wasn’t in my right mind, they knew that the sober me would have never done those horrible things,” he said. 

“I wasn’t even going to litigate my conviction. But I allowed my family to get up there and plead the courts, you know for, not to seek the death penalty.”

Then, in September 2018, he dismissed his court-appointed lawyers and pleaded guilty. He has since been placed on death row, but an execution date has yet to be scheduled. 

As Dearman confessed his willingness to be executed this week, a man convicted of shooting and killing two people in Oklahoma City more than two decades ago was executed Thursday morning.

Michael Dewayne Smith, pictured in February 2021, died by lethal injection Thursday morning. He was convicted for separate fatal shootings that occurred while he was high on drugs

Smith received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on Thursday morning and was pronounced dead at 10:20 am

The death gurney in the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester

Michael Dewayne Smith received a lethal injection at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was pronounced dead at 10:20 am, Oklahoma Department of Corrections said.

The state's first execution of 2024 comes after a judge rejected requests to slow down the timetable of lethal injections, brushing aside concerns of trauma and staff shortages and saying corrections teams needed to 'man up.'

Smith, 41, appeared to shake briefly and attempt to lift his head from the gurney before relaxing after being administered the first in a deadly three-drug cocktail.

During a clemency hearing last month, Smith expressed his 'deepest sorrows' to the victims' families, but denied he was responsible because he was 'high on drugs.'

The board denied him clemency in a 4-1 vote.

The US Supreme Court on Thursday morning denied a stay of execution requested by Smith's attorneys, who argued that his confession to police was not sufficiently corroborated.

Prosecutors say Smith was a ruthless gang member who killed both victims in misguided acts of revenge and confessed his involvement in the killings to police and two other people.

The execution came as Oklahoma seeks to clear up a backlog of executions, using an aggressive schedule of executing 25 prisoners in less than three years

That would eliminate 58 percent of Oklahoma's death row.