A man from Tennessee, who was on the run for a week after being charged with the murder of four family members and the kidnapping of an infant, is set to appear in court for the first time following those charges this Monday.
Austin Robert Drummond’s arraignment will take place in Lake County Circuit Court, located in rural northwest Tennessee, during the afternoon session.
On November 10, a grand jury indicted Drummond on serious charges, including first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping related to a shooting that occurred on July 29.
Prior to this, Drummond had pleaded not guilty, but a judge determined there was sufficient evidence for the case to move forward to a grand jury.
He stands accused of murdering the parents, grandmother, and uncle of an infant whose abandonment was discovered in the yard of a home in rural western Tennessee.
The extensive search for Drummond concluded on August 5 in Jackson, approximately 70 miles southeast of the location where the murders took place.
Prosecutors indicated they intend to pursue the death penalty if he is found guilty of first-degree murder during the trial.
During a hearing in September, FBI agents reported that Drummond’s cell phone data placed him near a wooded area where a body—shot and wrapped in a tarp—was located.
However, Drummond’s attorney, Brian Huffman, contended that the hearing did not present any concrete evidence linking Drummond to the shooting of the victims.
On the day of the incident, officers responded to a report about an infant left in a car seat at a private residence’s front yard, roughly 40 miles from Tiptonville, according to the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office.
Later, investigators in Lake County discovered four individuals deceased from gunshot wounds in Tiptonville.
The victims included the infant’s parents: James M. Wilson, 21, and Adriana Williams, 20, along with Williams’ younger brother, Braydon Williams, 15, and their mother, Courtney Rose, 38.
Lake County District Attorney Danny Goodman remarked that Drummond’s girlfriend is related to the infant’s grandmother.
In total, five individuals have been indicted as accomplices in this case.
Additionally, Drummond was previously incarcerated for robbing a convenience store and had threatened to harm a jury.
Goodman noted that Drummond was also charged with attempted murder of a correctional officer while being free on bail during the time of the killings.
Tiptonville, with a population of around 3,400, is about 120 miles north of Memphis, situated near the Mississippi River and the scenic Reelfoot Lake.
