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By Fred Guarino
The Lowndes Signal
Thursday June 5 marked the two-year anniversary of a triple murder case in Lowndes County.
On that date in 2012, the bodies of 9-year-old twins, Jordan and Taylor Dejerinett, from Montgomery, and their 73-year-old caretaker, Jack Mac Girdner of Hope Hull were found and for whom Deandra Marquis Lee faces six capital murder charges.
The bodies were discovered by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) on a dirt road off of Alabama Highway 21 near Hayneville, three miles south of U.S. Highway 80. The three had been reported missing on Monday, June 4, 2012.
Lowndes County Circuit Court Judge Terri Bozeman Lovell granted a defense motion on March 10 of this year to continue Lee’s trial date to the October term of court. Lee is represented by defense attorneys Jerry Thornton and Logan Taylor of Hayneville,
Lowndes County District Attorney Charlotte M. Tesmer said of the defense at the time of the continuation, “Their mitigation expert is not ready. Their investigators still have some things to cover.”
The Dejerinett children had last been seen with Girdner June 3, 2012, according to information from the Department of Public Safety.
When the children were reported missing on the following day, authorities said they were in the custody of Girdner, who had known the family for “about three years.” They had been reportedly last seen in Montgomery.
A day after the bodies were found, the ABI confirmed they had recovered the missing 1998 white Mercedes, owned by Girdner. The car, which was missing all four of its doors, was discovered in the Minter community in south Dallas County.
Lee was captured June 9, 2012, in a small apartment in Selma, reportedly huddled in the room with a woman.
According to Tesmer, there are three capital murder charges against Lee for the murder of the victims during a robbery, two capital murder charges for the killing of a child less than 14 and one capital murder charge for the killing of two or more people.
“The community was horrified that someone would execute two young defenseless children and an older gentleman. It was disturbing that they were brought to Lowndes County apparently for that purpose,” Tesmer previously stated
Lee, who was 22 at the time of the crime, is presumed innocent until proven guilty. He pleaded not guilty last September and is currently being held in the Autauga County Jail with no bond.