Demetrius Frazier was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the murder of Pauline Brown
According to court documents Demetrius Frazier would sexually assault and murder Pauline Brown in 1991. The case would go unsolved for nearly two decades until Frazier would confess to the crime while serving a life sentence in Michigan for Armed Robbery, Criminal Sexual Misconduct, Felony Firearms possession, and Felony Murder
Demetrius Frazier would be convicted and sentenced to death
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Demetrius Frazier is incarcerated at Holman Prison
Demetrius Frazier Case
Frazier was arrested in Detroit, Michigan, in March 1992, on a charge not related to the present case. While in the custody of the Detroit Police Department, Frazier was interrogated by Detective Kenneth Bresnahan. During this interrogation, Frazier confessed to the murder of a woman in Fountain Heights Apartments at Birmingham, Alabama. Detective Bresnahan contacted the Birmingham Police Department. Detective Kenneth Glass of the Birmingham Police Department traveled to Detroit to further interrogate Frazier. Frazier gave Detective Glass a statement, which was recorded on audiotape. In that statement, Frazier again confessed to the murder.
His statement related the following facts: Early on the morning of November 26, 1991, Frazier saw a light on in Pauline Brown’s ground-floor apartment at the Fountain Heights Apartment complex in Birmingham. He removed a screen and entered the apartment through a window. Frazier searched the apartment and found $5 or $10 in one of the bedrooms. Frazier then heard a television set on in one of the other bedrooms and went to that bedroom to see if anyone was there. He found Ms. Brown asleep in the bedroom. He awakened her. Armed with a .22 caliber pistol, he demanded more money. Ms. Brown gave him $80 from her purse. Frazier then forced her at gunpoint to have sexual intercourse with him. While he was raping her, Ms. Brown begged Frazier not to kill her. When Ms. Brown refused to stop begging for her life, Frazier put the pistol to the back of her head and fired the gun. Fearing that someone had heard the gunshot, Frazier left the apartment. He went across the street to see if anyone had heard the shot. Satisfied that no one had heard the shot, he returned to the apartment. He searched the apartment for more money and confirmed that Ms. Brown was dead. He then went to the kitchen, ate two bananas, and left the apartment. He threw the pistol in a ditch.
A Jefferson County grand jury indicted Frazier on three counts of capital murder. Count I charged Frazier with the offense of murder made capital because it occurred during a robbery. See Ala.Code 1975, § 13A-5-40(a)(2). Count II charged Frazier with the offense of murder made capital because it occurred during a burglary. See Ala.Code 1975, § 13A-5-40(a)(4). Count III charged Frazier with the offense of murder made capital because it occurred during a rape. See Ala.Code 1975, § 13A-5-40(a)(3). Frazier, who had been 19 years old at the time of the crime, applied for youthful-offender status. Following a hearing, the trial court denied his application. At his arraignment, Frazier pleaded not guilty to the charges in the indictment. Defense counsel filed several pretrial motions, including a motion to suppress Frazier’s statements and a motion for a court-ordered mental examination. The court denied both motions.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/al-supreme-court/1474202.html
