A Georgia man charged in four slayings during a 2020 crime spree across Alabama pleaded guilty to a Birmingham murder and apologized to the victim’s family.

Derrick Lee Hightower, now 36, pleaded guilty to capital murder during a burglary in the shooting death of 36-year-old Antione Harris inside a Birmingham home and to attempted assault for shooting at Birmingham police Sgt. Demarcus Brown during an arrest attempt.

The Columbus man is charged with capital murder in Lee County for the slaying of 54-year-old Nancy Nash, who police believe was killed when she interrupted a burglary by Hightower and Ketrice Hill.

He is also charged with capital murder in Tallapoosa County for the shooting deaths of Willie Tidwell, 61, and his wife Barbara, 65, during a break-in at their Dadeville home.

All four of Hightower’s alleged victims were killed between Friday, April 17, 2020, and Saturday, April 18, 2020.

Nearly a dozen family members and friends of Harris watched the Wednesday morning hearing on Zoom from Circuit Judge Michael Streety’s courtroom.

“I want to issue a formal apology to the family,’’ Hightower told them. “It was never my intention.”

“I had been going through some things and my mind wasn’t in the right place and the right state at that time,’’ he said.

“I’m being a man about what I did,’’ Hightower said, “and I take full responsibility for what I did. I just wanted to say that.”

Hightower’s trial in Harris’s death was set for Sept. 11, but he avoided a possible death sentence with his guilty plea.

He was initially charged with two counts of capital murder and four counts of attempted murder. One of the capital murder charges and three of the attempted murder charges were dismissed as part of the plea.

Streety sentenced Hightower to life without parole for capital murder and 20 years for the assault. The judge told Hightower that his apology was “noble” and “rare.”

Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Misty Reynolds prosecuted the case. Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office attorneys Sammie Shaw and Paul McDaniel represented Hightower.

The first known victim in Hightower’s alleged spree was Nash, a grandmother from Smiths Station.

Auburn police responded to the Farmville Volunteer Fire Department’s call for assistance on a vehicle fire in the 9500 block of U.S. Highway 280 West around 6 a.m. that Friday.

When officers arrived, they found a white 2005 Chevrolet Silverado truck on fire and Nash dead nearby at Creative Habitats Landscaping. Nash had been shot several times.

Three shell casings were found inside the business, as well as one projectile that was lodge in an interior wall.

Investigators also discovered Nash’s 2019 black Nissan Frontier missing. Evidence suggested that the suspect or suspects entered the building while Nash was alone inside and robbed her of her vehicle.

Next, Hightower is believed to have been involved in the double murder of a couple in Dadeville that Friday evening.

It wasn’t immediately clear when the couple was killed, but they were found that Friday night by a concerned family member.

Hightower was quickly named a suspect in that case, but wasn’t formally charged until a year later when, in April 2021, a Tallapoosa grand jury indicted him on two counts of capital murder during a robbery, and one count each of capital murder during a burglary, capital murder of two or more people and second-degree theft of property.

The indictment states that Hightower killed the couple and stole two guns from their Dadeville home.

“Willie was a hard working man, with a heart of gold that could fix anything. He was an avid Alabama fan and he loved fishing, camping and anything Elvis,’’ according to his obituary. “Willie’s family was his world and he loved his grandchildren immensely.”

“Barbara loved her family very much, especially her grandchildren and was happiest when they were all together. She enjoyed sewing and doing crafts,’’ her obituary read. “Barbara enjoyed the simple things in life. She loved sitting on her back porch, reading and planting flowers.”

The couple had been married for 20 years.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Kentrice Hill, 24, of Birmingham, is also charged with capital murder in the Auburn and Dadeville slayings. She remains held without bond in the Lee County Jail .

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Birmingham police were notified about 11 p.m. Friday that a vehicle being sought out of Auburn was spotted at the USA Economy Lodge on Crestwood Boulevard. That vehicle was taken during Nash’s homicide.

Police also received reports that the suspect was seen in the area of the motel.

A silver sedan was seen leaving the area and Birmingham police tried to stop the vehicle. At that point, Hightower got out of the sedan and exchanged gunfire with Birmingham police. Officers lost sight of the suspect after the shooting.

Early that Saturday morning, as police continued their search, evidence led them to a home in the 100 block of Briar Grove Drive.

A resident in the area was letting his dogs out in the backyard to use the restroom when a Black male wearing all black – later identified as Hightower – appeared seemingly out of nowhere and said, “Hey, you got a phone?” the resident told AL.com, asking that his name not be used for fear of retribution.

The resident said, “no,” and Hightower fled on foot toward the area of Briar Grove Road.

It was then, investigators believe, that the suspect broke into the home where Harris was fatally shot. A nurse and her three children live at the home but were not there when the home invasion and subsequent shooting took place.

A short time later, the resident who encountered the suspect said, he heard a barrage of gunfire. The next thing he knew, his neighborhood was flooded by SWAT.

Hightower had taken a vehicle from the house on Briar Grove and was in that vehicle when Birmingham police tried to stop him.

He got out of the vehicle and exchanged gunfire with officers before fleeing the scene.

Hightower fled on foot after crashing the stolen car. Police used the tag information on that vehicle to go to the home on Briar Grove Road where they found Harris dead.

A large perimeter was set up in the Crestwood Boulevard and Montevallo Road areas.

About 4 p.m. Saturday, Hightower walked out of the neighborhood that backed up to where police had set up their command post.

Authorities said all of the Alabama victims appeared to be random targets, crimes of opportunity. Many of their stolen belongings were found in Hightower’s possession.

Hightower went to prison in Georgia in 2006 on cocaine charges and again in 2014 on an aggravated assault conviction. He was sentenced to 10 years in the assault case, but it wasn’t clear how long he actually served.

Hightower’s grandmother, Pamela Hightower Copeland, spoke with AL.com following the rampage and said she didn’t understand what happened.

“I don’t know what happened. I really don’t,’’ Copeland said. “Seems like to me he’s really got a lot of demons inside of him.”

“I trust in the Lord. I go to church every Sunday. I have been going every Sunday, with the exception of recently because of the pandemic,’’ Copeland said in 2020. “I love him. He’s my grandson. He’s my blood.”

“I’m just putting everything in the hands of the Lord right now,’’ she said. “He’s my child, my grandchild. I’m hoping whatever he’s going through, he’ll find his way.”