Man at large after allegedly killing 4 family members, leaving baby alive in Tennessee: Officials
As the search continues for a 28-year-old man who allegedly killed four family members and left their baby alive, authorities said they have arrested and charged two other men accused of helping the suspect after the slayings.
The suspect in the killings, Austin Robert Drummond, is considered armed and dangerous following the killings of 38-year-old Cortney Rose, Rose's children 20-year-old Adrianna Williams and 15-year-old Braydon Williams, and Adrianna Williams' boyfriend, 21-year-old James "Michael" Wilson, according to authorities and family.
The victims were killed on Tuesday and found along a road in Lake County, in northwest Tennessee near the state’s borders with Arkansas, Missouri and Kentucky, authorities said.
The same day, Wilson and Williams' baby was left in a car seat in a "random individual’s front yard" in nearby Dyer County, according to the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office and Danny Goodman, district attorney for Dyer and Lake counties. The infant was treated by paramedics and is now safe and being cared for, authorities said.
Drummond has been at large since the killings, though officials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have said they believe he is still in the area.
On Saturday, the bureau said it had arrested and charged two men, described as associates of Drummond, who are accused of assisting him after the killings.
The TBI said it had obtained warrants charging 29-year-old Tanaka Brown and 29-year-old Giovante Thomas, both of Jackson, with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.
Brown, who was also faces one count of evidence tampering, was booked into the Lake County Jail where he is being held without bond. Thomas was already being held at another jail on an unrelated charge and will be sent to Lake County Jail to be arraigned on the new charge, the TBI said.
Officials have said the killings were not random. Investigators believe Drummond knew the victims, the district attorney said.
Drummond is wanted on four counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, the TBI said.
"While this was an extremely tragic and violent event," the TBI said on social media, "there was a sign of compassion ... that tells us there's a possibility that Austin may have a sense that there is hope for him to be able to come in and have a conversation about what happened."
TBI Director David Rausch said Drummond's white 2016 Audi was found in Jackson, Tennessee, where Drummond has ties, according to officials.
The TBI said earlier Saturday that this 1988 white Ford pickup truck linked to Drummond was found in Dyer County. Authorities ask anyone in the Burnt Mill Road area to review their surveillance cameras for footage or Drummond or the truck from Tuesday morning.
Goodman said Drummond had been out on bond for an attempted murder charge, which stemmed from an alleged incident while he was in prison for attempted robbery.
A $17,500 reward has been offered for information leading to his arrest.
Authorities urge anyone with information to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
