Atmore, AL – Demetrius Frazier was executed at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, on Wednesday evening for the 1991 capital murder of Pauline Brown in Birmingham. Governor Kay Ivey announced that she had informed Corrections Commissioner John Hamm that she would not exercise clemency in the case and directed the execution to proceed.
Frazier was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m. following administration of nitrogen hypoxia. The execution was the fourth carried out by the Alabama Department of Corrections using this method.
Governor Ivey issued a statement following the execution, saying, “In Alabama, we enforce the law. You don’t come to our state and mess with our citizens and get away with it. Rapists and murderers are not welcome on our streets, and tonight, justice was carried out for Pauline Brown and her loved ones. I pray for her family that all these years later, they can continue healing and have assurance that Demetrius Frazier cannot harm anyone else.”
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall also released a statement, saying, “For more than three decades, the family of Pauline Brown has waited for justice. Tonight, that wait is over. Demetrius Frazier was a monster who brutally took the lives of two innocent women and left behind a trail of unspeakable violence. For the crimes he committed in Alabama, he was fairly and appropriately punished. While nothing can erase the agony he inflicted, I pray that this brings closure to those who loved Pauline and have endured the painfully slow wheels of justice for so many years.”
Frazier had been convicted of multiple violent crimes spanning several states, including Michigan, California, and Alabama. His offenses included sexual assault, armed robbery, and murder. In 1991, he broke into Brown’s apartment, assaulted her, and fatally shot her before fleeing with less than $100.
Prior to his trial in Alabama, Frazier was convicted in Michigan for the 1992 murder of 14-year-old Crystal Kendrick and the rape of Jacqueline Gresham. He received four life sentences in Michigan but was transferred to Alabama in 2011 under an executive agreement to face his capital punishment sentence.
In the weeks leading up to his execution, Frazier and his supporters sought to have him transferred back to Michigan to serve his life sentences rather than face the death penalty. However, these efforts were unsuccessful.
Attorney General Marshall authorized the execution to proceed at 6:10 p.m. before Frazier was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m.
The case remains part of ongoing discussions about capital punishment in Alabama, where executions continue to be a point of debate among lawmakers, advocacy groups, and the public.
