Derwin Brown
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Derwin Brown (June 22, 1954December 15, 2000) was an American police captain and the
sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...
-elect of
DeKalb County, Georgia DeKalb County (, , ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its ...
, who was
assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
on the evening of December 15, 2000, on the orders of defeated rival
Sidney Dorsey Sidney Dorsey (born February 23, 1940) is an American former law enforcement officer who served as sheriff of DeKalb County, Georgia from 1996 to 2000. Dorsey was the first African American to serve as sheriff of DeKalb County. When Dorsey lost a ...
.


Early life

Derwin Brown was born on June 22, 1954 at
Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository (also known as Fort Knox), which is used to house a larg ...
,
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
, the eldest child of Burvena and George Robert Brown. He was raised in
Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, where he attended Woodfield Road School, Malverne Junior High School, and Malverne High School.


Career

Brown first served
DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
as a youth counselor for troubled teens and soon became one of the county's first black patrol officers. He later hosted his own local TV segment called ''The Naked Truth'' and was the author of his own column in the local ''Champion News Paper'' called "Tell It Like It Is." Brown was a 23-year veteran of the
DeKalb County Police Department The DeKalb County Police Department (DKPD) is the primary law enforcement agency for unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, as well as the incorporated cities of Tucker and Stonecrest. The department serves a population of more than 730,000 p ...
when he was elected to the position of Sheriff on a platform of cleaning up the
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
and graft that had historically troubled the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office.


Assassination

On December 15, 2000, former sheriff's deputy Melvin Walker shot Brown twelve times with a
TEC-9 The Intratec TEC-9, TEC-DC9, KG-99, and AB-10 are a line of blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols. They were developed by Intratec, an American subsidiary of the Swedish firearms manufacturer Interdynamic AB. Introduced in 1984, the TEC-9 is ...
handgun in front of his home in Decatur. Brown was murdered only three days before he was due to be sworn in as sheriff; DeKalb County Director of Public Safety Thomas Brown assumed control of the post in an interim fashion pending a special election to be held in March 2001. At trial, prosecutors alleged that then-DeKalb County Sheriff
Sidney Dorsey Sidney Dorsey (born February 23, 1940) is an American former law enforcement officer who served as sheriff of DeKalb County, Georgia from 1996 to 2000. Dorsey was the first African American to serve as sheriff of DeKalb County. When Dorsey lost a ...
– whom Brown had recently defeated in the election – had promised Walker a promotion to deputy sheriff if he killed Brown and that David Ramsey, the backup shooter and
getaway driver A crime scene getaway is the act of departing from the location where one has committed a crime. It is an act that the offender(s) may or may not have planned in detail, resulting in a variety of outcomes. A :crime scene is the "location of a c ...
, was promised a job as a detention officer. Dorsey was convicted of ordering Brown's assassination. Details that came to light during the trial suggested that Dorsey ordered the killing to obstruct an expected probe into corruption during his tenure as sheriff. The Brown family filed suit against those involved in the killing. After a civil trial found the defendants liable, the family was awarded a judgment of $776 million. The defense attorneys declined to appear on behalf of the
defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...
s at trial; instead, having filed an
interlocutory appeal An interlocutory appeal (or interim appeal) occurs when a ruling by a trial court is appealed while other aspects of the case are still proceeding. The rules governing how and when interlocutory appeals may be taken vary by jurisdiction. United St ...
on the issue of liability, they allowed the damages portion of the trial to go forward undefended. The
Georgia Court of Appeals The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the state of Georgia, United States. The court is a single entity with fifteen judges. The judges are assigned into five divisions of three judges each, with the assignm ...
ruled in the defendant's favor on the issue of whether the state was immune from suit. The
plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...
appealed the ruling up to the Supreme Court of Georgia, which upheld the ruling. The
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
denied ''
certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of a prerogative writ in England, issued by a superior court to direct that the recor ...
'' on a subsequent appeal filed by Brown's family. After the verdict was rendered virtually uncollectable by the series of failed appeals, a bill was introduced into the
Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...
seeking to compensate Brown's family in excess of $300 million. The bill failed to obtain the necessary votes for passage. On July 13, 2007, Dorsey confessed to investigators that he had ordered Deputy Patrick Cuffy to carry out the killing. However, he claimed he had tried to call off the assassination attempt prior to Brown's murder.


Legacy

Derwin had 5 children and 12 grandchildren. Brown's wife, Phyllis Brown, died on Christmas Eve in 2006 of
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...
after suffering a debilitating
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
, nine days after leading a candlelight vigil in honor of the anniversary of her husband's murder. Brown was a member of
Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of ...
fraternity. He was also a member of
Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
and a
Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...
was named in his honor, the Derwin Brown Masonic Lodge #599 PHA. Brown's assassination was featured on
Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...
's series ''Fatal Encounters'', season 1, episode 9, "Who Shot the Sheriff?" The assassination and case were also featured on Oxygen's series ''Deadly Power'', season 1, episode 3, "Above the Law". DeKalb County has named a police precinct near South DeKalb Mall after Brown, and has also renamed Glasgow Drive to "Derwin Brown Drive" in honor of the slain sheriff-elect.


External links


Ga. Sheriff-Elect Killed in AmbushAfter assassination, Brown family seeks peace and truth amid more loss
*


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Derwin 1954 births 2000 deaths 2000 in Georgia (U.S. state) 2000 murders in the United States People from Malverne, New York American police officers People murdered in Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) sheriffs People from Decatur, Georgia Murdered African-American people Deaths by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) Assassinated police officers Assassinated American politicians African-American sheriffs Malverne High School alumni 20th-century African-American politicians People murdered by law enforcement officers in the United States People from Kentucky American Freemasons 20th-century Georgia (U.S. state) politicians