MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A judge is refusing bond for a Mississippi man accused of killing five people and an unborn child in Alabama.
The decision by Judge Rick Stout came Wednesday as 27-year-old Derrick Dearman made his first court appearance in Mobile, Alabama.
Authorities say the man used an ax and at least one gun to slaughter two women and three men at a house in Citronelle, Alabama. One of the victims was a pregnant woman whose unborn child died.
Relatives of the victims were on hand in court during the hearing.
Dearman has told reporters he was high on methamphetamine. The judge appointed a defense attorney to represent him.
The Leakesville, Mississippi, man is charged with multiple counts of capital murder, and courts typically refuse bond in such cases.