Man accused of south Alabama massacre pleads not guilty

Published August 31, 2016

A Mississippi man accused of killing five people in a south Alabama home with blows from an ax and gunshots has pleaded not guilty.

Authorities say 27-year-old Derrick Dearman of Leakesville, Mississippi, attacked the three men and two women as they slept Aug. 20 and then kidnapped his estranged girlfriend, who had sought shelter in the house to get away from a violent relationship with him.

Dearman is charged with six counts of murder, including one count for the unborn child of a pregnant woman who was among the dead. WKRG-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2cbYqqA) that he pleaded not guilty Wednesday at a court hearing in Alabama.

Lawyer Jim Vollmer, who was appointed by a judge to represent Dearman, hasn't commented on details of the case.

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