A death sentence handed down this week to convicted spree killer Derrick Hightower is the first time in 29 years that a Tallapoosa County has condemned someone to die.

The jury on Thursday, after only 15 minutes of deliberation, came back with a 10-2 decision to execute 36-year-old Derrick Hightower, 36, for the 2020 slayings of Willie Tidwell, 61, and his wife Barbara, 65, inside their Dadeville home.

Hightower in December was found guilty on four counts of capital murder: two counts of capital murder during a robbery; capital murder during a burglary; and capital murder for the killings of two or more people in one scheme.

He was also convicted of second-degree theft in connection with murdering the Tidwells.

Alabama’s Fifth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Mike Segrest made the decision to seek death for Hightower.

The last death sentence handed down in the circuit was done so by Segrest’s father, retired Circuit Judge Dale Segrest, in 1995.

Corey Shirod Smith, now 48, remains on Death Row at Holman prison, He was convicted in the Feb. 22, 1995, slaying of a Kimberly Brooks, a Tallassee High School senior who was the mother of Smith’s toddler daughter.

Angry that Brooks was involved in another relationship, Smith shot Brooks multiple times but when she still didn’t die, he burned her alive.

Since then, Tallapoosa County prosecutors sought the death penalty only one other time. That was in 2007, and the jury spared the defendant of death and instead gave him life without parole.

Segrest took over as district attorney in 2023.

“When I ran for office, I talked to a lot of people and I listened to them and I made a campaign promise that if the facts warranted it, I would seek the death penalty,’’ he said.

“When I made those campaign promises, and even when I took the Oath of Office on Jan. 17, 2023, I said I knew I was going to have to make tough decisions about whether or not to seek the death penalty,’’ Segrest said.

“One thing I told people was, ‘You might not always agree with my decision, but it was going to be made because it was the right decision in my heart,’’’ he said.

Hightower’s capital murder charge in Tallapoosa County was the first case as district attorney that Segrest appeared in court for, just weeks after taking office. Hightower had been charged before Segrest was district attorney.

“After hearing the facts of the case, I made the decision we would pursue the death penalty,’’ he said.

Willie Tidwell was smoking a cigarette on the back porch of the Dadeville home he shared with his wife when Hightower ran up on him.

Willie Tidwell retreated into the house, followed by Hightower.

“He ended up getting shot in the back of the head, and then Barbara (Tidwell) was shot on the right side of her head,’’ Segrest said. “They were both left laying in pools of blood in their own home.”

Hightower is now guilty of three of the four murders in which he was charged. All four of the victims were killed between Friday, April 17, 2020, and Saturday, April 18, 2020.

He avoided the death penalty in Jefferson County when he pleaded guilty in 2023 to 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.

At his guilty plea in Jefferson County, Hightower said, “I want to issue a formal apology to the family. 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, and I take full responsibility for what I did. I just wanted to say that.”

Segrest said he doesn’t know why Hightower chose to go through with the trial in Tallapoosa County.

Asked Thursday if he wanted to say anything before he was sentenced, Hightower said, “I ain’t got nothing to say.”

Hightower still faces trial in Lee County for the shooting death of 54-year-old Nancy Nash, who police believe was killed when she interrupted a burglary. She was the first known victim of Hightower’s alleged spree.

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 carried out the double murder of the Tidwells. They were found that Friday night by a concerned family member.

Hightower stole two guns from the couple’s home and was also convicted of theft of property.

“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.

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.

Segrest said he has not yet made the decision whether to pursue the death penalty in her case.

Hightower was taken into custody April 18, 2020, in Birmingham.

Birmingham police were notified about 11 p.m. Friday, April 17, 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. The resident asked 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.

Police on Saturday, April 18, 2020, were searching for a suspect who is believed to have been wounded by police gunfire in east Birmingham.

It was then, investigators said, that Hightower broke into the home where he killed Harris. A nurse and her three children lived 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.

Police on Saturday, April 18, 2020, were searching for a suspect who was believed to have been wounded by police gunfire in east Birmingham.

About 4 p.m. that 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.

Segrest is also seeking the death penalty for 29-year-old Darrian Daqwon Kennebrew in Macon, who is one of two people charged in the 2023 stabbing death of Jessica Bean, who was pregnant.

Bean was last seen alive in Montgomery on Feb. 4, 2023, and her body was recovered near the intersection of County Road 2 and Cross Keys Road in Macon County six days later. Her remains had also been set on fire. The attack also killed her unborn son.

A trial date against Kennebrew has not yet been confirmed but could take place later this year.

“The folks in this circuit and in Tallapoosa County are tired of the violence,’’ Segrest said.

“I think they’re also fed up with the appeal process and how long it takes to go through the court system, and I can’t say I disagree,’’ he said.

“We’ve got to find a better way when you’re talking about somebody still awaiting execution from 30 years ago.”

The prosecutor said he appreciates the jurors in the Hightower case, and the work they put in.

The trial began the day after Thanksgiving and ended the week of Christmas. Jurors then went back Thursday, the day after New Year’s, for Hightower’s sentencing phase.

“They made the decision, ‘We want to put him to death,’ and that’s not an easy decision,’’ Segrest said. “A lot of people say they believe in the death penalty, but do you want to be the one to have to make that decision? Could you do that if put in that situation?

“It’s a lot to ask of a jury. What they had to see and hear was emotionally tolling and grueling,’’ he said. “There were jurors crying when the (death) verdict was returned, more than two of them.”