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Debra Brown and Alton Coleman’s Crimes

In 1983, 28-year-old Coleman met 21-year-old Debra Brown. Brown was one of eleven children and was considered a little slow and easy to manipulate. Most attribute this to a head injury she suffered as a child.

She was engaged to be married when she and Alton Coleman met, but Coleman seduced her, and soon, she left her fiancé to be with him.

In the spring of 1983, Coleman was about to go on trial for violating a 14-year-old girl. He decided not to stick around, and he left town. He ended up in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and in April 1984, he met Juanita Wheat. He earned her trust and even dined with her and her children several times.

On May 29th, 1984, Juanita let him take her 9-year-old daughter, Vernita, to his apartment to pick something up. He never returned and took the girl to Waukegan, Illinois.

He had his way with her and killed her. She was found in an abandoned building four blocks from Coleman’s grandmother’s home on June 19th.

On May 31st, Coleman borrowed the car of a man he befriended and never returned.

Coleman and Brown ended up in Gary, Indiana, where they encountered 9-year-old Annie Turks and her 7-year-old niece Tamika Turks. They were walking home from a candy store, but Coleman and Brown convinced them to go into the woods to play a game.

Both girls were taken advantage of. Annie survived the violence, but Tamika died.

The couple took 25-year-old Donna Williams from Gary, Indiana, on June 19th. She was violated and strangled to death. Her body was found on July 11th, three and a half hours away in Detroit, Michigan.

On June 28th, the couple accessed the home of Palmer and Majore Jones in Dearborn, Michigan. They beat the couple senseless, then stole money and their vehicle.

A week later, they landed in Toledo, Ohio. They made friends with Virginia Temple. Within days, she and her eldest 9-year-old, Rachelle Temple, were found dead in a crawl space. Just like previous victims, they were strangled.

After killing the Temples, they broke into the home of Frank and Dorothy Duvendack. They tied the couple up and got away with jewelry, money, and a car.

They went to Dayton, where they met and stayed with Reverend Millard Gay and his wife, Kathryn. They even went to a church service with them. The Gays dropped them off in Cincinnati on July 10th.

On July 11th, they encountered 15-year-old Tonnie Storey in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was on her way to a computer class. She was kidnapped, violated, and killed. Her body was found on July 20th.

At this point, the FBI was putting the pieces together and added Coleman as the 11th person on their ten most wanted list.

A day after Storey’s murder, the couple contacted Harry and Marlene Walter about buying a camper. They beat and robbed the Walter’s, then stole their car, money, shoes, and jewelry. Harry Walter survived, but his wife, Marlene, died from her injuries.

By July 15th, the couple was in Williamsburg, Kentucky. They kidnapped a college professor, put him in the trunk of his car, and then drove back to Ohio, where they abandoned the vehicle on July 17th with him still locked inside.

They returned to the Gay’s Dayton, Ohio home. They pulled out guns, took the couple’s vehicle, and drove toward Illinois. While in Indianapolis, they killed 75-year-old Eugene Scott and took his car.

Arrest

The couple landed in Evanston, Illinois, about 50 minutes from Waukegan, Illinois. They must have thought no one would recognize them, but they were wrong. A man from Coleman’s old neighborhood saw him and Brown walking down the street. He immediately drove to a gas station and contacted authorities.

Police apprehended the couple as they sat on the bleachers in Mason Park, watching people play basketball.

Brown had a gun on her, while Coleman had a knife on him. They had a bunch of shirts and hats in their possession as they would change clothes every few blocks.

They were responsible for eight murders, multiple robberies, burglaries, kidnappings, and rapes.

Prosecution

Prosecutors across multiple jurisdictions met, and their primary goal was to send the couple to death row. They decided that Ohio was the best option for prosecution.

Both Coleman and Brown were found guilty of the rape and murder of 15-year-old Tonnie Stonney and the murder of Marlene Walters.

At sentencing, Brown sent the judge a note saying, “I killed the bitch, and I don’t give a damn. I had fun out of it.”

They were both sentenced to death.

Brown also got a death sentence in Illinois for the murder of Vernita Wheat and another in Indiana for the murder of Tamika Turks.

Alton Coleman’s Execution

As his death date got closer, people fought to get him off death row by blaming his childhood or talking about his lack of intelligence.

The American Civil Liberties Union, also known as the ACLU, wrote a letter asking for clemency.

They said Coleman was once abandoned in a garbage can by his mother and neglected by the grandmother who raised him. His granny reportedly ran a brothel and illegal gambling operation in her home. At a young age, he was said to have witnessed his mother and grandmother participating in sexual activities with others.

They said his IQ was below average, and he had borderline personality disorder. They also claimed the prosecution purposely stuck multiple black jurors for no reason during jury selection.

Despite their efforts, Coleman’s fight for clemency failed.

On April 25th, 2002, He had a final meal of Filet mignon with mushroom gravy, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, French fries, broccoli with cheese, collard greens, onion rings, cornbread, a salad, sweet potato pie, butter pecan ice cream, and cherry cola.

On April 26th, 2002, he expected to visit with his brother and two sisters, but they never arrived.

He was marched to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility’s death chamber.

Many of his victims’ relatives showed up to watch his end, and authorities had to set up a closed-circuit viewing area just outside the Lucasville, Ohio, facility.

As poison from the lethal injection flooded his body, he repeated the words “The Lord is my shepherd” multiple times. The 46-year-old was pronounced dead at 10:13 am.

Brown’s life in prison

Brown remains in custody at Dayton Correctional Institution in Dayton, Ohio, although her death sentences from Ohio and Indiana were both commuted to life due to her being considered borderline retarded.