Bio

Donald Ray Middlebrooks was born on July 30, 1962. By 1987, Middlebrooks was 24 years old and living in Nashville, Tennessee. He was with his wife, Tammy Middlebrooks, and Roger Brewington when they encountered 14-year-old Kerrick Majors near a makeshift flea market in East Nashville.

Middlebrooks and the two co-defendants were white, while Kerrick Majors was Black. Racial slurs were used during the attack. He was the only defendant eligible for the death penalty because Tammy Middlebrooks and Roger Brewington were juveniles at the time of the crime. Donald Middlebrooks was convicted and sentenced to death.

Murder Story

On April 26, 1987, 14-year-old Kerrick Majors and several friends encountered Donald Ray Middlebrooks, Tammy Middlebrooks, and Roger Brewington near a makeshift flea market area in East Nashville, Tennessee. Reports state that the conflict began after a small vase or item at the flea market was broken.

Majors and his friends ran away, but Middlebrooks, Tammy, and Brewington chased them. The group caught Majors and took him into a wooded area. He was smaller than the adults and older teenagers who attacked him.

Over several hours, Majors was tortured and beaten. Tennessee court records state that he was forced to strip, beaten with objects, burned, urinated on, and sexually assaulted with a stick. An “X” was carved into his chest. During the attack, he pleaded for his life and said he wanted to go to school and get an education.

Middlebrooks later admitted that he took part in the attack. The Tennessee Supreme Court stated that he fully participated in capturing Majors and causing severe physical and mental pain before stabbing him. Majors died from stab wounds.

Middlebrooks was arrested two days later. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death on September 22, 1989. His first death sentence was later reversed because one aggravating factor improperly duplicated the felony-murder offense. However, the murder conviction remained in place.

A new sentencing hearing was later held. Middlebrooks was again sentenced to death. In 1999, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the second death sentence, finding that the “heinous, atrocious or cruel” aggravating factor was supported by the evidence.

Middlebrooks continued filing appeals and postconviction challenges. His execution was scheduled for December 8, 2022, but Tennessee executions were paused after problems were found in the state’s lethal-injection process. In March 2025, Tennessee set a new execution date for September 24, 2025, but the execution was later stayed while federal litigation over the execution protocol continued. Donald Ray Middlebrooks remains on Tennessee death row.