Bio

Derrick Leon Jackson was born on June 13, 1968, in Harris County, Texas. Raised in the Houston area, his early life was marked by limited educational advancement and early contact with the legal system. He completed 11 years of formal schooling before later earning his GED, and he found employment working as a cook. 

At just 20 years old, Jackson committed the brutal double homicide that would eventually define his life. Throughout his youth and early adulthood, he engaged in a pattern of escalating criminal behavior, which culminated in a 12-year sentence for an unrelated aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in 1993, just a few years before fingerprint technology finally linked him to his capital murder charges.

Murder Story

Forrest Henderson and Alan Wrotenberry were both 31-year-old singers connected with the Houston Grand Opera. Wrotenberry also worked as a music teacher at Deer Park Elementary School. At the time of the murders, Wrotenberry was staying in Henderson’s Houston apartment after a divorce while looking for another place to live.

On the night of September 10, 1988, Henderson and Wrotenberry had been rehearsing for a Houston Grand Opera production. Later that night, Henderson was heard in the apartment by a neighbor. At about 4:45 a.m. on September 11, the neighbor heard Wrotenberry scream, “Oh my God. No. No,” several times. The neighbor also heard repeated sounds described as blows from a pipe or baseball bat, followed by a long period of silence and then running water.

On Monday, September 12, 1988, Wrotenberry failed to report to his teaching job at Deer Park Elementary School. The school principal contacted the apartment manager and asked him to check on Wrotenberry. The manager entered Henderson’s apartment and found a body covered in blood, then left and called 911.

Police found both men dead in separate bedrooms. Henderson’s nude body was found face-down on his bed. Wrotenberry was found on the floor of his bedroom wearing only swimming trunks. Investigators found extensive blood on bedroom walls, doors, and curtains. A bloody metal bar was recovered in the hallway, and a bloody knife was found in the kitchen sink. Both victims’ wallets were missing, and Henderson’s car had been stolen.

Forensic evidence showed that Wrotenberry suffered severe blunt-force injuries and a fatal neck wound involving a severed carotid artery. Henderson suffered defensive wounds, a fractured skull from blunt force, and multiple stab wounds to the torso. Investigators found no signs of forced entry, suggesting that the killer had either been admitted voluntarily or had access to the apartment.

The investigation initially stalled. Police collected blood evidence and approximately 20 identifiable fingerprints from the apartment, but no suspect was immediately identified. Henderson’s stolen car was later recovered after a police chase connected to a separate burglary, but the driver escaped and was not captured at the time.

In 1995, Houston police used an upgraded fingerprint identification system with an expanded database. The system matched Derrick Jackson to fingerprints recovered from items inside Henderson’s bedroom, including a beer can and a glass tumbler. A bloody fingerprint found on Henderson’s bedroom door was also matched to Jackson. Additional testing linked Jackson to biological evidence from towels found in Henderson’s bathroom. Prosecutors also presented evidence that type-B blood was found at the scene; Jackson had type-B blood, while both victims had type-A blood.

Jackson was indicted for capital murder on June 19, 1997. On March 12, 1998, a Harris County jury convicted him of capital murder for the deaths of Forrest Henderson and Alan Wrotenberry. On March 17, 1998, after a separate punishment hearing, he was sentenced to death.

Jackson appealed his conviction and sentence through state and federal courts. His direct appeal was denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2000, and later state and federal habeas petitions were also rejected. His legal team and supporters raised concerns about forensic evidence and crime-lab practices, but courts did not overturn the conviction.

Derrick Leon Jackson was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas, on July 20, 2010. He was 42 years old. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.