TITPONVILLE, Tenn. — Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a Tennessee man charged with killing the parents, grandmother and uncle of an infant found abandoned in a home’s front yard on Thursday.
Austin Robert Drummond, 28, appeared by a video feed from jail before a judge in Tiptonville, two days after he was arrested in the killings that set the mostly rural region of western Tennessee on edge.
At the hearing, District Attorney Danny Goodman told the judge that the state intends to seek the death penalty. Lake County General Sessions Judge Andrew T. Cook ordered Drummond held without bond because it a capital case.
Drummond was wearing a black and white striped jumpsuit and seated in a chair. He told a judge he operated a business and he said he wants a speedy trial in the case. The judge entered a guilty plea on his behalf because a lawyer had not been appointed yet.
The judge then ruled him indigent and granted a court-appointed attorney.
Drummond is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and weapons offenses. A weeklong search for Drummond ended when he was taken into custody in Jackson, located about 70 miles southeast of the location of the July 29 slayings.
The ordeal began after an infant in a car seat was found in a front yard in the Tigrett area, roughly 40 miles (65 kilometers) from Tiptonville. The Dyer County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that a caller reported a minivan or midsize SUV had dropped the infant at a “random individual’s front yard.”
The sheriff’s office later said they were working with investigators in neighboring Lake County, where four people had been found dead from gunshot wounds. Officials determined those people were the child’s parents, grandmother and uncle.
Authorities later identified them as James M. Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Cortney Rose, 38; and Braydon Williams, 15. Wilson and Adrianna Williams were the infant’s parents, while Rose was Adrianna and Braydon Williams’ mother.
Investigators determined the four relatives had not been seen since the night before, according to Goodman, the district attorney. A relative had called 911 after finding two vehicles in a remote area, and the four bodies were found in nearby woods, Goodman said.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch has said it’s believed the killings were a targeted attack by Drummond. The baby is safe and being cared for by other relatives.
Hours before Tuesday’s arrest, Jackson Police posted a roughly 20-second video surveillance clip showing someone they said was Drummond wearing camouflage and carrying a firearm, trying to enter the door of an unspecified building.
Jackson Police Chief Thom Corley said the calls from the public helped officers arrest Drummond, who had been staying in a vacant building near the woods where he was taken into custody.
Drummond’s criminal history includes prison time for robbing a convenience store and threatening to go after jurors. He was also charged with attempted murder while behind bars.
The TBI has charged three other people they said helped Goodman after the killings.