Top 10 Facts About Debra Brown

Top 10 Facts About Debra Brown

Born in 1963, Debra Brown was an accomplice of serial killer Alton Coleman between May and July of 1984. Debra Brown and Alton went on a crime spree for three months in six states of the United States of America. These crimes the two lovers committed hit the headlines in the United States because of how they went State to state committing them.

Debra Brown was born in a family of eleven children with the background of her parents not explained in detail. As a child, she suffered a head trauma which made her have borderline intellectual ability. A psychiatrist later diagnosed her with a dependent personality disorder.

Before meeting with Alton Coleman, Debra Brown was engaged to another man. However, in 1983, she met with Alton and decided to leave her family and move in with him. Alton was a vicious sadist who was obsessed with crime including burglary, assaults, rape and killing.

Debra Brown was influenced by Alton and became an accomplice who was also arrested alongside him after they were nabbed. In the police investigations, Debra Brown was found to have no history of violence nor being involved in any crime. The majority of the murder victims of Debra Brown were African-Americans which was thought that they had a racial motive.

Debra Brown was handed a death sentence and is currently in The Ohio Reformatory for Women waiting for her execution. Here are the Top 10 Facts About Debra Brown:

1. Debra had a Head Injury in her Childhood Affecting Her Brain

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Debra Brown is borderline intellectually disabled after an incident that happened when she was young. She grew up together with her ten siblings but suffered a head trauma at one stage of her childhood.

The head trauma affected her brain majorly which was later discovered by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist reported that Debra Brown suffered from a dependent personality disorder which reduced her IQ level.

2. She Deserted her Husband & Family at the Age of 21

Debra Brown was raised well and had not been involved in any incidents during her teenage life. However, her life took another turn in 1983 when she was 21 years old.

Debra was happily married and lived in harmony with her family. At the age of 23, she decided to desert her family and end her marriage as she wanted to start a new life elsewhere.

3. Brown Started a Slave-Master Relationship with Sadistic Alton

The life of Debra Brown changed completely after she decided to ditch her marriage as well as her family. She met with Alton Coleman who had a major influence in her life.

Alton Coleman was a sadistic rapist and murderer who was cold-hearted and did bad things. She started a slave-master relationship with Alton who had made her his slave.

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4. Debra Brown had no History of Violence nor Crime before Meeting Alton

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

What shocked many including her family is what she was involved in after she decided to meet and start a relationship with Alton Coleman. Debra Brown was raised in a disciplined way and her teenage life was not full of exposure to negative things.

However, this changes immediately after she met the sadistic rapist and murderer Alton Coleman. Debra Brown was noted not to have had a history of violence or crime while she grew which shocked the jury during her trial and sentencing.

5. She Became an Accomplice of Alton Coleman in His Atrocities

Known to be a person full of crime and violence, Alton introduced Debra Brown to her new life after she decided to get into the slave-master relationship. Before they were arrested, Alton was wanted or had been charged for assaults on at least 20 people in separate attacks that included 7 murders.

Debra Brown was converted to being the murder accomplice of Alton Coleman. The two were involved in several murders and atrocities which Debra Brown had a little role to play in which put her in trouble.

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6. Debra Committed Several Atrocities in Six Different States in the Midwest

Surprisingly, Debra Brown and Alton never committed their crimes in one state in the United States. They travelled across the Midwest of the United States where they committed their murders and other crimes like assaults, burglaries and rape.

Debra committed the offences in six different states in the Midwest. She began her crimes in Wisconsin where she was involved in the murder of 9-year-old Vernita.

Vernita’s mother was befriended by Alton and took her on 29th May 1984, and then her decomposed body was found on 19th June. The two murderers then headed to Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky where they also left dead bodies.

7. The Targets of Debra Brown were African-Americans

Photo by cottonbro studio:www.pexels.com

The majority of the victims of Debra Brown and Alton Coleman were African-Americans. The authorities had some believe that the two assailants, boys Afro-American, selected the black victims as this could enable them to blend in with the black community. They also noted that their crimes had no racial motives.

However, a retired FBI profiler was against this claim as he believed that Coleman was driven by something else. Debra Brown and Coleman used to leave a racist slogan written in lipstick at the crime scene of one of their victims who was not of Afro-American origin cancelling the previous thoughts.

8. Debra & Alton Used the Tactic of Befriending their Victims before Killing Them

The tactics used by Debra Brown and Alton Coleman during their killing spree were unique and no one suspected them. They could befriend their targets and ensure that they had their trust before moving in.

Debra and Alton targeted both the young and elderly who were ultimately murdered. Alton could assault, rape and then finally murder their victims after befriending them. The trust was built between the victims, Debra and Alton because of their black origins.

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9. Debra was Unapologetic During the Sentencing Phase of her First Ohio Trial

On 20th July, Debra and Alton were arrested in Evanston after they were spotted by a motorist from Alton’s neighbourhood. They were then taken to police custody where their trial began.

Debra Brown refused to be apologetic during the sentencing phase of her first Ohio trial. She wrote a note to the judge which showed how unapologetic she was towards the murders they had committed. “I killed the bitch and I don’t give a damn. I had fun out of it.” Debra’s note stated.

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10. Debra was Handed a Death Sentence but She’s Currently on a Life Sentence

A group of 50 law enforcers met and began to discuss the jurisdiction of Debra Brown and Alton Coleman. A death sentence was the ultimate decision by the other states but Michigan did not accept capital punishment.

Debra was sentenced to death for the murder of Tamika Turks in Indiana, but her sentence was commuted to 140 years in prison in 2018. Brown is currently doing her life sentence term at the Dayton Correctional Institution in Dayton, Ohio, without the chance of parole. She expressed her remorse and regret for her actions in a video apology to the victims’ families in 2005.

Alton Coleman was not lucky as he was executed by lethal injection on 26th April 2002 in the death chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. The chances of Debra Brown coming out of prison are now as she continues her sentence.