African American Serial Killers 7

Not only is it racist for people to assume serial killers are white males, it’s counterproductive. Derrick Todd Lee, known as the Baton Rouge Serial Killer, terrified this section of Louisiana from 1992 until 2003. Though he would die in the hospital after a bout with heart disease in 2016, he would be forever remembered as a disgusting example of a human being.

As he remained on death row in Louisiana State Penitentiary, he had earned his place in hellish conditions until his death.

The victims stood as more interesting than this ogre. One victim who escaped his wrath, Dianne Alexander had nearly been a murder victim if it were not for her and the quick actions of her son. Once Lee entered her home, he abused her but not to any serious extent. Her son then burst through and broke up Lee’s clutches. He then ran after Lee when he ran through the kitchen’s backdoor.

The son identified a car Lee entered. Both of them then supplied the police with enough information to relay the details to a sketch artist and release it through the press.

Not everyone, of course, had been as fortunate as Dianne. Rape and murder victim Charlotte Murray Pace led authorities to her husband as a suspect. DNA, however, once again linked the true perpetrator, Lee, to her violation and death.

All women, again this ogre sought to overpower victims who would not be able to properly defend themselves. In another instance, Geralyn Barr Desoto, had been killed with extreme brutality. She, though, at least thought enough to collect enough DNA under her fingernails to lead to another conviction for Lee.

In the meantime, police suspected Lee of being white and used an out of service DNA company to find out that Lee had been 85% African descent. This is where the irony lies. The hostility against innocent people due to racial politics harms them but when it comes to a serial killer, somehow there’s an incredulous nature. The populace and the police only believe based on bias rather than objective reasoning.

DNA pointed in the direction of Lee as well. Five other women fell victim to Lee’s ugly acts. Their murders had been established sometime between 1998 and 2003.

It’s a shame how Lee didn’t live out the rest of his sentence. He deserved to be put on the table and have pancuronium bromide (paralytic), potassium chloride (cardiotoxin), and sodium thiopental (anesthetic) course through his veins.

His story wouldn’t be complete without an urban legend. Neighbors alleged that Lee used a recording of a crying baby to lure people, predominantly women, to tend to the wailing infant. Law enforcement, however, shot down these rumors. This, yet, did not stop television series from employing it in the plotlines of their crime dramas.

Lee merely existed. He didn’t live as a man but as an animal. He chased the dereliction instead of the American Dream. He could have been anything but he chose to be a voyeur, rapist, and murderer. The force that he exhibited against women showed that he couldn’t handle reality.

For the citizens to immediately suspect that he was white hindered the case and almost stopped it cold. Another note in this whole story is the fact Dianne could not collect the $100,000 reward from Crime Stoppers Inc. She attempted to retrieve the money as she had called in to provide information but the company denied her the money because she failed to call before August 1, 2003 and she did not call the right hotline. After litigation, she lost the case, unfortunately.

More irony. The main victim who actually encountered Lee could not reap the monetary benefits of an attack on her life.