The suspect in a deadly crime spree that began in Auburn and ended in Birmingham is now charged in the shootout with Birmingham police that left him wounded.
The State Bureau of Investigation has obtained four attempted murder warrants against 32-year-old Derrick Hightower, SBI officials confirm. Hightower is also charged with capital murder in Birmingham and in Auburn in connection with two of four slayings that happened Friday and Saturday.
Hightower’s bond on the attempted murder charges totals $240,000 but he is being held without bond in the Jefferson County Jail on the capital murder charge.
The exchange of gunfire happened early Saturday morning in east Birmingham. The ordeal began about 11 p.m. Friday when Birmingham police were notified that a vehicle being sought out of Auburn was spotted at the USA Economy Lodge on Crestwood Boulevard. That truck was recovered, but Hightower was not yet in custody.
As police searched for Hightower over the next several hours, a silver sedan was seen leaving the area and Birmingham police tried to stop the vehicle. At that point, said Sgt. Rod Mauldin said, Hightower got out of the sedan and exchanged gunfire with Birmingham police.
Officers lost sight of the suspect after the shooting. No officers were injured.
A massive perimeter was set up in the Crestwood Boulevard and Montevallo Road areas. The manhunt included lawmen from multiple agencies as well as tracking dogs, a SWAT team and Jefferson County’s Star 1 helicopter.
The registration from the sedan Hightower was last seen in led police to a home in the nearby 100 block of Briar Grove drive where 36-year-old Antione Harris was found shot to death inside. Police said the victim and the suspect did not know each other.
After a day-long search, Hightower about 4 p.m. Saturday emerged from a neighborhood just feet from the police command post and surrendered. Officers said he was disoriented and had been shot in the arm. He was taken to the hospital and booked into the Jefferson County Jail upon his release.
During the investigation, police made contact with 21-year-old Kentrice Symonee Hill. The Birmingham woman admitted to investigators that she was traveling with Hightower and was with him when 54-year-old Nancy Nash was killed Friday morning Auburn at the business where Nash worked.
Hill told investigators she had joined Hightower in Columbus. It wasn’t immediately clear where they were going, but they became stuck in a ditch at Creative Habitats Landscaping in Auburn. “She advised (that) Hightower then went down a driveway, where she later heard several loud noises that she described as ‘tires blowing,’’’ an investigator wrote. “After the noises, she stated Hightower drove up the driveway in the victim’s stolen Nissan Frontier.”
Hill told police she got into the vehicle with him, and they fled the scene together. “Hill further admitted to facilitating the rental of the motel room,’’ records state. “She also stated that when officers arrived at the motel parking lot, Hightower asked if he could hide out in her room, and she stated he could.”
Hightower gave Hill a pistol to hide as well, records state. Police found the keys to Nash’s stolen vehicle inside Hill’s purse. Nash’s wallet was also found to be in the suspects’ possessions.
Hill is also charged with capital murder in the Auburn slaying, but she is not charged in the Birmingham homicide.
In addition to the Auburn and Birmingham killings, Hightower is also suspected in the death of a Dadeville couple who were found slain inside their home Friday night. It wasn’t immediately clear when they were killed, but their bodies were discovered by a concerned family member.
No charges have yet been announced in the Dadeville case.
Public records indicate Hightower went to prison in Georgia in 2006 on cocaine charges and again in 2014 on an aggravated assault conviction. He was sentenced to 10 years in the assault case, but it wasn’t clear how long he actually served.
Hightower was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 2:10 p.m. Monday and is being held without bond. Hill is being held without bond in the Lee County Detention Center.